Crest of Faith
by LPearl
Summary: Even though the Crests had been destroyed, the Digidestined still held the power within. But Light may be too intense for one person to carry on her own. Will the mythical Crest of Faith be able to help protect and strengthen Light's carrier? What does a past enemy have to do with the Crest and its legends? Set during Adventure 02.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own anything. And be forewarned: When writing dialogue, I attempt to keep the way the character speaks on the show in the text. **

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><p>The shrill sirens sounded hauntingly familiar. The expressionless men lifting the bedding, and the initial crowd thinned out. A few spectators remained, several with concerned looks, two with fear, and one glowing with guilt. The blue eyes gleamed with stubborn tears. Yet, his face itself remained stoic. It was clear he was familiar with the situation, perhaps too familiar with it. The boy inhaled a deep breath, slowly released, and calmly walked up the board the ambulance.<p>

"Hey PJ! Where are you going?" Another boy, named Davis, called. A younger boy sighed.

"It's TK, and this is not the time for those jokes Davis." Cody murmured.

"Let him. I'm sure it is the only thing he can do to calm himself down. If I could make lame jokes, I would." TK replied. He then turned to look at Davis. "And I am going to the hospital. I know what is going on, I know what to do, and I know what the EMTs need to be told."

"What do you mean you know?" Ken asked. TK looked away.

"Because—this has happened before, but this time it is my fault." He once again sighed as he entered the ambulance and the door closed behind him.

**_Three hours earlier**_

The six Digidestined walked through the wicked heat of the digital desert. Despite the world being set up by data, the sun still burned, and the air was thick. The long road created an untamed conductor with its amplification of the temperature. They had been on the road for hours, and had yet to find a television. There was an occasional cough.

"Okay, this is it!" Yolei exclaimed. "I cannot take this anymore! The moment we get home, I am going to take the coldest shower possible and then sleep in the freezer."

"I could always digivolve for you Yolei," Hawkmon answered.

"That would not be a good idea just yet." TK said.

"Yeah, considering we haven't been able to eat today, we need to save our energy." Gatomon added. "There is no promise on when that crazy spider woman will attack."

"We still should take a break. There's a bus stop coming up soon." TK mentioned.

"We can keep going for a bit! I'm not tired yet at all!" Davis exclaimed. Veemon jumped with enthusiasm.

"That's right Davish! We can go for miles."

"Is everyone sure?" TK asked.

"Yeah, the TV is only about a mile away, we'll be fine." Yolei replied. Another cough sounded.

"I'm fine," Kari said. She turned to Cody and Ken. "You?"

"I'll survive," Cody answered. Ken nodded.

"And we're great! I'm used to this type of environment." Armadillimon joked. Wormmon nodded just like his partner did.

"That settles it! Forward march!" Yolei jumped ahead. Five of the six teenagers began to move ahead. Cody turned.

"TK? You there?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," TK glanced briefly at the bus stop before jogging ahead to join the others. A nagging sense of doubt laced with déjà vu sat in his mind. He sighed while looking up at the sky.

"Everything okay TK?" His digimon asked. TK could only sigh again. He looked towards Patamon and bore a small smile.

"Yes, I'm fine."

The group continued for roughly half a mile. The coughing became more chronic, and heads turned to the source. The cougher sported a grin and rubbed the back of her neck.

"It's just the air. The sand keeps getting into my throat." Kari told them. The group grinned back, with the exception of three members. One of which quietly handed her the last bottle of water.

"Drink this," the blond boy insisted.

"But isn't that the last one?" Veemon inquired.

"Yeah, we have to share. I'm thirsty too." Davis announced. Kari silently handed the bottle over.

"Kari-" TK's eyes were held a firm gaze. Her eyes appeared calm, even slightly guilty. Their stare was interrupted by a loud belch.

"Eww Yolei." Patamon said. They both turned to the others, one whose eyes went directly to the now empty bottle. His fists clenched as he forced himself to remain calm.

_"Do not get mad at them. They would not know why."_ Kari's coughing resumed as she tried to contain the noise.

"Maybe we should have saved the water for you Kari." Ken said.

"No, I'm fine." Her voice was weak.

_"That's it."_ TK walked directly over to Kari, whose eyes began to hold shame. She looked down to the ground, shuffling her feet. He immediately kneeled down.

"I know you are not fine." Kari brought her eyes to meet with his.

"Well, I'm fine enough to make it to the portal. So stop worrying," she responded. Ken could not help but chuckle.

"It seems like you're rubbing off on Kari, Yolei. She's actually showing some spunk." The group chuckled lightly at the joke. It was a greatly needed aid to help them forget about the heat. Yolei and Davis made some idle conversation, also known as bickering to some, in attempts to distract their selves. Another rest stop appeared. "That's it; we're stopping for a bit." Ken declared. "I'm getting too warm as well. We need to take about five minutes to at least catch our breaths." Ken was facing Kari and TK. TK smiled a small grin.

_"Thank you,"_ he mouthed. Ken nodded.

"You know what," Davis began, startling the two, "you guys with the flying digimon should scout ahead to see exactly how far we need to go. We may need to call someone over here simply so we can have water."

"Wow, Davis is thinking responsibly." Kari joked.

"I'm so proud," Yolei added, whipping a pretend tear from her eye. Davis scowled at them.

"What? I can think from time to time too. I may not do it much, or even attempt to make sense, but I can be just as smart as you guys!"

"I don't know, Davish."

"Ready, guys!" Kari piped up.

"No, you're staying here in the shade." TK said firmly.

"But—"

"No buts. I know you, Hikari. Plus, this way we'll have a back up flying digimon."

"You can count on me for that," Gatomon brought a fist to her chest. The other children looked back and forth between the two, unsure of how to judge the battle. Neither Kari nor TK shared a word, yet the eye contact was clearly enough. After a moment, Kari sighed and looked away.

"Well, let us get comfortable then. Let us know where you are in ten minutes." Without another word, Kari strolled over to the bench, suppressing the strengthening coughs. TK's eyes followed her. He glanced towards Gatomon, who nodded with understanding. Patamon then jumped onto his shoulder.

"Ready boys?" Hawkmon inquired. They nodded.

"Hawkmon armor-digivolve to—"

"Patamon armor-digivolve to—"

"Halsemon!"

"Pegasusmon!" The four began to fly off, as TK turned to call out before they rose too high.

"Gatomon! You know what to do!" The cat-like digimon nodded. The team watched as their friends flew out of sight.

"I don't get it. Why are we doing this again? It's not that far away, is it?" Veemon turned to kick at a stone. Cody sighed.

"You knew why just a moment ago. We have to be careful in this weather. It is too easy for us, and especially you digimon, to weaken. I wish we had a dowsing rod."

"A dining rod?" Davis asked.

"No, dowsing. It is a way to find water underground." Ken smiled softly. He has joined together with the other children months ago, yet the innocent, naïve pair still granted him an internal chuckle. A fit of coughs broke his humor. Ken immediately walked over to the bench Kari was sitting on. He kneeled down before the girl and put his hand on her forehead.

"Kari, lie down," he spoke harshly. Kari met Ken's eyes with a confused expression, his eyes holding a firm gaze he rarely displayed since awakening from the Dark Ocean's control. However, his hand was still gentle as he placed it upon her shoulder and gave a light push. Kari sighed as she lowered her back onto the bench.

"You're just as bad as my brother." That earned another internal chuckle.

_She goes out of her way for everyone else, anyone else even. Yet she cannot say "Hey, I have a headache, give me a moment." No wonder TK seems so over-protective._ Ken turned over to Cody.

"Any chance you could spare one of your sleeves? I think the fabric of that shirt would be the best. Mine is far too coarse." Cody blinked, and shifted his focus from Ken to Kari, then back to Ken. His expression remained serious as he tore the cuff of his left sleeve while walking over to the two.

"Of course. Anything to help out." Cody said. He personally used it to clear some sweat off of Kari's forehead. He sighed. "You know, we do not mind helping. In fact, we want to Kari. After all, you would do the same to us. I believe you have in the past too."

"Thank you Cody. I know, it's just—" More coughing cut her off, now interrupted by shallow breaths. Kari closed her eyes and released a tired sigh.

"Why didn't you tell us at the last stop? Why didn't you tell us before we finished off the water?" Davis asked when he joined the others. His eyes were hurt. "You should trust us Kari." She met with his eyes for a moment before sighing and allowing her own eyes to close.

"You guys needed some of the water, too."

"But—" Davis began. He was met with a "shh!" from Ken when he grabbed the spiky haired boy's arm and led the two away.

"We do not want to do anything, or say anything to stress Kari out. She is clearly weak." Ken turned to look at Gatomon, who sat atop the bench with tears in her eyes. "Now I know why TK kept trying to bully us into stopping. I wonder how many times this has happened before." He turned back to Davis. "You've known Kari, and Tai, the longest. Have either of them ever mentioned this occurring in the past?" Davis shook his head.

"Not really."

"Wait!" Cody exclaimed. "They said how Kari was not with the group at first, as she had to stay home from being sick."

"Yes," Armadillomon murmured. The others jerked their attention towards him. "When I DNA-digivolved with Angemon, I was able to look into his memories. It seems Kari has had some health issues in the past."

"Why did no one tell us?" Ken demanded. Wormmon shook his head.

"TK and Kari are just like that. I guess they don't want anyone to fret over the past."

"I cannot stand those two sometimes!" Davis cried. He punched at the ground, which was accompanied by an ungraceful fall onto is backside. He looked up to see Gatomon approaching.

"She's asleep for the time being. I'll go call TK and Yolei back. We need to get to that portal. Angemon could probably carry her best. He would be the fastest one of us with arms." Gatomon growled. "Damn it! If only I could digivolve!"

"I am messaging TK now," said Cody.

_Hey guys, you need to get back here. Kari's getting really bad.—Cody_

Almost instantly, there was a reply.

"Hey guys! TK got back to me! _'Find a way to elevate her head, get Gatomon to take off her gloves, and try to keep the sweat off of her forehead. If she's coughing heavily, and they are not dry sounding coughs, see if you can rotate her so she's on her side. I'll be back in a few. We found a television; it will be about fifteen minutes back and forth.'_" Cody read. "Hey, it is a good thing the portal is so close." He turned to the other boys. Davis had taken his jacket from around his waist to fold it into a pillow. Ken gently lifted Kari's torso to roll her onto her side. He followed with a pulse check.

"I wish I knew her regular heart rate."

"She has hypotension." A new voice said.

"TK!" The group cried. TK and Yolei landed next to the others. The moment TK's feet reached the ground, Pegasusmon returned to his rookie form. Both he and the digivice began to glow.

"Patamon digvolve to—Angemon!" The six winged human-like digimon stood silently while he awaited the plan.

His partner slowly walked over to the sleeping girl. He gently lifted her.

"Don't worry Kari. I already messaged Joe. He will be there, waiting for you. He'll know what to do." Kari awoke slightly at the sound. "Don't say anything about being 'fine'. Friends are supposed to take care of each other, and as my—our—friend, we will take care of you." Kari smiled.

"But since I'm taking your ride, I need to help out a bit. Gatomon!" Kari called.

"I'm ready!" She replied. Kari held out her digivice.

"Gatomon armor digivolve to—Nefertimon!"

"Thanks Kari." TK smiled. He carried the girl over to his digimon. "Go as fast as you can Angemon, just make sure to hold her steady."

"I will TK," Angemon answered. His voice had an almost holy ring in it. He took Kari from TK and lifted into the air. TK boarded Nefertimon then turned sharply to the others.

"Let's go!" He commanded. "You guys need to turn into your fastest form."

"V-mon armor digvolve to—Raidramon."

"Wait!" Cody interrupted. "Wormmon and Armadillomon should stay rookie. We can ride with you guys, and this way we can have some back-up." He hopped onto Halsemon, as Ken climbed onto Raidramon behind Davis.

"Fine, let's just go!" TK shouted. "Let's go!" Nefertimon and Angemon then shot into the air.

"They aren't telling us something," Ken whispered. "Exactly what had happened last time?"

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><p><strong>**AN Greetings! Out of no where, the "Hey Digimon" song popped into my head. A marathon was the only thing to cure it, and with those hours all the "Who/what/when/where/how" questions popped into my head. This fanfic is the result of unanswered questions from episodes 45, 48, and 49 of the first season, mixed with the Dark Ocean confusion and frustrating lack of the Ultimate forms of 02.  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Insert standard disclaimer here. Note: there is some cursing, but in this situation, can you blame 'em?**

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><p>"They aren't telling us something," Ken whispered. "Exactly what had happened last time?"<p>

"I wish I knew, but I'm sure we can find out from the older kids once we get back." Davis replied as the two flew on Raidramon. Davis stared ahead on Angemon's shrinking form. "Man, he really is fast. We'll get home soon."

Cody rode on Halsemon with Yolei. They trailed the group to maintain watch on the surrounding area.

"Do you think she's okay?" He whispered. Yolei was quiet for a moment. She had not a clue how to reply. She struggled to avoid frustration.

"She'll be fine. After all, Joe and Izzy will be there, and probably Tai as well. They'll know what to do." Yolei withheld her rising level of stress. Kari and she had become closer at a rapid rate since the DNA-digivolve of Sylphmon, but she still did not know what was going on, or what had occurred in the past to give TK such a hike in worry.

_Man, why did I have to chug so much water? It would have helped Kari out, at least a little bit. _Guiltrang through Yolei's mind.

"Don't worry Cody, we're half way there!" Cody nodded in response, then noticed Yolei would not have seen, as she was sitting in front.

"Okay."

"That's the—hey guys! Look out!" Yolei shouted. The conversation had distracted the two, leading them to miss the flock of Vilemon approaching from the southwest.

"Nightmare Shocker!" One of the Vilemon attacked. Halsemon dodged with ease.

"Eagle Eye," he countered, nullifying the attack and striking down the attacker.

"Nice one, pal!" Yolei cheered. A male shout came from the front.

"TK!" Davis cried. Yolei and Cody turned to the front, gasping as they saw Nefertimon recoiling from a strike. Angemon's head turned back.

"We're fine! Keep going Angemon!" TK called to his digimon. Angemon nodded, and continues his flight with Kari guarded in his arms

"I don't think so!" A Vilemon mocked. Raidramon ran up to it, unleashing a powerful thunder blast. The attack took out several of the Vilemon.

"How many are there?" Ken shouted. He turned to his partner. "Wormmon! Digivolve!"

"Wormmon digivolve to—Stingmon!" Stingmon leapt forward into the battle. Ken tried to resume his demeanor as he looked around the field.

"Wait, where's TK? TK!" He called.

"I'm fine!" TK replied. He was on the ground next to Gatomon. "Keep going guys!"

"I don't think we can!" Yolei yelled. "We're surrounded! And Angemon is trapped!" Cody shout a glance at Armadillomon.

"Yolei!" The digimon announced. "Get down to the ground so I can digivolve." Once Halsemon descended; Armadillomon jumped and digivolved.

"Angemon! Get over here! I can guard Kari, and you can attack." The Ankylomon shouted. Angemon touched down to place the still unconscious girl between the other two digimon, then Halsemon and himself took to the sky to join the fight. Kari's skin had turned from the flushed tone to a pale, almost gray, coloring. Cody and Yolei forgot all about the battle as they saw the prone figure of their close friend.

"Hell—"Cody murmured.

"Hey! Watch your language!" Yolei spouted.

"Not the time for that Yolei." The pair snapped back to the battle. The two scouted around, and Cody felt an urge to cheer when his eyes fell upon the cat-like companion. "Gatomon! Are you guys okay?" Gatomon's head snapped in their direction.

"I think so. TK hit his head though on the fall." She replied. The blond boy next to her shook his head, suppressing a wince.

"I'm fine! How's Kari?"

Yolei's vision returned to the other girl.

"She's breathing heavily, probably from the noise, but she's still asleep." Her focus turned to TK, and then to the skies. The number of Vilemon had seemed to decrease, but the group was still outnumbered. "Hey, Davis! How are you guys up there?" Yolei and Cody had remained behind Ankylomon. He had been striking away at their foes, but the flying enemies did not seem interested in the three children.

"Fine, but a bit of help would be nice!" Davis exclaimed.

"Hand of fate!"

"Just like that!" Davis laughed. He looked behind himself to share the grin. The grin disappeared and his eyes grew wide. "Look out! There's more of 'em!"

"Nightmare shocker!" A Vilemon unleashed an attack directly into Angemon. With a loud groan, the powerful champion fell to the ground.

"Angemon! No!" TK rose and ran to his friend.

"No TK! Get back here!" Gatomon shouted. "Lightning claw!" She knocked back a Vilemon who flew down between the two. Angemon rose with a grunt.

"I'll get them. Relax."

A cry from behind the three caused the attention to shift. Nearly all the remaining Vilemon surrounded Ankylomon, Yolei, Cody, and Kari.

"Damn it! Why can't these guys just leave us alone?" Davis said. "Let's get over there, Raidramon."

"Got it!" The thunder powered digimon replied.

"Stingmon! Down here!" Ken called.

"Got it!" The insect-like digimon also called.

_Let's hope we get there in time,_ Ken thought. Suddenly, a bright light flashed. The Vilemon were thrown back from the explosion; many of the closer ones defeated from the force. Both Ken and Davis covered their eyes to defend against the intense glow.

"What the- Is that another bad guy?" Davis questioned. He stared at the location of the light "Oh no! Kari!"

"Kari?" Ken called. The light began to fade until the pair could look directly to their group of friends.

"What the—" Davis repeated. Ken's brows arched in confusion.

"Kari's—glowing?" He murmured

"Hey! You guys okay up there?" Ankylomon called.

"Yeah! But what was that?"

"Not a clue."

"Look!" Raidramon interrupted. "The Vilemon are fleeing."

"Woot! We scared them off!" Davis cheered.

"I don't know, Davis. Unless—" Ken's eyes darted to TK, who had finally stood while staring at the sky. "Unless they cannot take the light." Ken, Davis, Stingmon, and Raidramon had finally reached Yolei and Cody. "How did it feel to you guys?"

"It was weird." Ankylomon said. "I felt stronger."

"I felt much stronger too. It was if I could fly faster and further than any other digimon out there." Halsemon chimed in as he swooped down.

"We could take on anything!" Ankylomon pumped a foot into the air.

"We'll be safe for now." A low voice spoke from behind. "My light can protect us."

"Kari!" The group proclaimed and jumped over to her. The girl was still shining a white light with her eyes still closed

"You're awake?" asked Yolei.

"And okay!" Davis cheered. Kari slowly sat up and opened her eyes. They, too, appeared lighter: light and unfocused. She looked at Davis. He then felt his pulse relaxed and his mind cleared. It was as if he reached a higher level. A glance at the team showed him the other children had the same sensation.

"Hurry, we must leave here." Kari began to rise. "A great power is approaching, and our digimon need to rest."

"But they say their fine! And if you're the source of this somehow, Kari, we could probably beat both Arukenimon and Mummymon!" Yolei assumed a victory stance.

"No, this won't last forever." TK startled her as he and Gatomon walked through them to Kari, with Angemon stopping behind. TK held out his hand to her. She grasped it as he pulled her up, lacing her arm around his shoulder. Her coughing had stopped, but she still struggled to breathe. Her pose displayed how tired she was. Eight out of the nine audience assumed it was from her health. Then, the light flashed again. They darted hands to shield their eyes. All the digimon began to glow and, with the exception of Gatomon, they returned to their Rookie levels.

"See?" TK asked.

"What the—?" Yolei asked.

"But how did that happen?" Davis asked angrily. He turned to Veemon. "How do you feel?"

"Tired, but I was tired before this happened." The digimon nodded in agreement.

"I definitely think we should worry later, right now we need to get back to your world." Wormmon said.

"Yes, and the TV is only a few meters away." Hawkmon pointed to the left.

"Look! He's right!" Cody jumped up. They began an exhausted stroll to the gateway home.

"Ugh—" Kari grunted before them. Her legs gave out and she began to fall.

"Kari!" Gatomon rushed up.

"Don't worry, I got her." TK bent slightly to lift the once-again unconscious girl bridal style.

"She's still glowing." Veemon observed.

"Will you please tell us what's going on?" Yolei pleaded. If it was not for the battle, her tone would have been far more aggressive.

"I will once we get Kari to safety."

_Safety? But isn't she safe with us?_ Davis asked himself. He did not know whether to just feel hurt, or betrayed. They had finally reached the television. He went to hold up his D3 when Kari's light began to flash. He heard her breathing struggle as the glow brightened. He looked towards her face. The once peaceful inner-self nosedived as his chest tightened at the sight of her face.

Kari's eyes were squeezed together, her lips tight, and her jaw was clenched. Her body racked with spasms. Davis suddenly feared for her. He spun back to the television.

"Quick! Digiport open!"

The six kids and their digimon were absorbed into the screen as they were converted from data into real beings and expelled into the computer lab.

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><p><strong>Man, an action sequence in which there is one dozen characters, and with almost total omniscence in the actual show can be tricky to convert into words.<br>Hope you enjoyed, and I love reviews- both positive and negative!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm happy! Everytime I saw one of the email alerts, my mind started to do a little dance and sing "People like my story! People like my story!" I hope you like this chapter too!  
>Insert the disclaimer of choice here.<br>**

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><p>Quick! Digiport open!"<p>

The six kids and their digimon were absorbed into the screen as they were converted from data into real beings and expelled into the computer lab.

"Woah!"

"Oww—"

"We should really put air mattresses out." Once again, the children landed in a large heap upon the floor. They had learned from a deep gash on Cody's eyebrow to move the chairs out of the way before heading through the terminal, but still had not devised a way to avoid bruises from an impact with the floor.

"We land with no problem when going into the digital world, but when coming home we always crash." Davis muttered.

"Yeah, on me." Yolei responded.

"Now is not the time, guys. Izzy, where are the others?" TK's voice was low, almost like a growl. Izzy was not facing him, but digging through his bag.

"It's just me. I have some water for you guys."

"Yay! I'm thirsty, Davis." Demiveemon chirped

"Here," said Izzy as he handed a bottle to the in-training digimon. "Now, where's Kari? I have water and some aspirin."

"She's right here," TK said. Izzy finally turned to him. Kari was still being held in his arms, thought her light had dimmed. He looked almost afraid to set her down.

"What the—"

"Haven't we heard that enough?" Yolei asked.

"Now is not the time! We have to get her to the doctor!" TK spouted. His voice held anger unrecognizable for his character.

"TK, we can't take her when she's glowing. Let's just set her down here for now. I'm sure she's just dehydrated." Izzy cleared out a spot for the girl. He pressed his cool hand on her forehead to check her temperature. "How's your head?" Kari did not respond.

"She's asleep, let's not wake her." Gatomon said. She turned to Izzy. "Is she still feverish?"

"Yes. How long has she been like this?" Izzy asked.

"She's been weak for the past two hours. She's been _Alight_ for about ten minutes now." TK said.

"We'll give her five more minutes, and if she's still not up we'll get her to the hospital."

"What if she's still—like this?" Cody whispered.

A silence spread through the room. All the group could do was sit and watch the glowing girl. Ken was the first to voice an idea.

"We can say it's a type of body paint, which reacts to florescent light."

"Good idea, Ken!" Patamon chirped.

"But what if the light screws with the medical stuff?" Cody inquires

"How can it? It's just light?" Davis's face was perplexed

"Light is a form of energy, Davis. It is one of the strongest natural energies out there." Ken defined

"Plus, with Kari I'm sure it's spiritual energy too. My Grandpa taught me about self energy during kendo. He says each person has a set amount of internal energy, which can be harvested with training. It can be a person's greatest strength, or the most susceptible weakness. When the light remains pure, and the chakras stay aligned, it is a step towards becoming a Buddha." Cody's eyes grew thoughtful. "I didn't know Kari had gone through any training. Considering her temperament, I'm not surprised."

"She hasn't." TK began to pace.

"But—"

"Look, she's not even moving anymore. I'm calling for an ambulance." The blond marched to the phone to pick it up.

"What are we going to tell them regarding why she's unconscious?" Yolei questioned. "And even with Ken's idea, how are you going to explain the scratches on her from the battle? What will happen if the light brightens again?" TK was silent for a moment, glanced at Kari, and then looked away.

"It's about to stop." Gatomon whispered. TK had picked the phone back up and dialed the emergency hotline.

"What do you mean?" Yolei challenged

"Yeah, and how can you tell? How do you know?" Davis could no longer hold in his anger. He cared for Kari as much as everyone else did, and was concerned for her. The stress of the day, mixed with his confusion, had finally set him off. He felt like TK, and now Izzy, were looking down on the group. He was tired of the older kids not telling him what he should know.

"Not now. And look at her hands. They aren't emitting light anymore. She'll be able to regain her strength soon." TK said as he slammed the phone down. "The EMTs are on the way."

The light had completely faded, but instead of regaining her color, Kari appeared a chalk-like gray. Yolei reached down to change the cooling cloth. A siren came into hearing range.

"What? Now she's like ice." Yolei was far more confused than ever before. TK pushed the older girl out of the way to lift Kari up. He held the girl like a fragile piece of glass.

"I'll carry her down to the doorway." He spoke firmly. The other Digidestined did not know how to respond. They still could not recognize him as TK. It was worse than the clashes between Davis and himself.  
>Ken felt a chill. The expression on the blond boy reminded him of the confrontation when he tried to harvest the darkness from Devimon. Cody's eyes were confused. Once again, he thought about how he did not know TK at all.<p>

"What are you going to say?" He asked his friend once again.

"I have a plan."

To TK, the shrill sirens sounded hauntingly familiar. The expressionless men lifting the bedding, and the initial crowd thinned out. A few spectators remained, several with concerned looks, two with fear, and one glowing with guilt. The blue eyes gleamed with stubborn tears. Yet, his face itself remained stoic. It was clear he was familiar with the situation, perhaps too familiar with it. The boy inhaled a deep breath, slowly released, and calmly walked up the board the ambulance.

"Hey PJ! Where are you going?" Another boy, named Davis, called. A younger boy sighed.

"It's TK, and this is not the time for those jokes Davis." Cody murmured.

"Let him. I'm sure it is the only thing he can do to calm himself down. If I could make lame jokes, I would." TK replied. He then turned to look at Davis. "And I am going to the hospital. I know what is going on, I know what to do, and I know what the EMTs need to be told."

"What do you mean you know?" Ken asked. TK looked away.

"Because—this has happened before, but this time it is my fault." He once again sighed as he entered the ambulance and the door closed behind him.

"What the hell is going on?" Yolei shouted. "We're just as worried! Maybe even more worried! For all we know, she has some type of radiation poisoning! Well, Izzy?" She looked around. "Izzy?"

"Where did he go?" Yokomon asked.

"This is starting to tick me off," Davis grunted. "Hey Cody, how are you so calm?"

"I'm not, I'm just trying to stay calm." He replied.

"Look, the only thing we can do know is get to the hospital. I'm sure Tai will be there, and he'll tell us what's going on," Ken told them.

"Oh crap!" Yolei spouted

"What Yolei?" Cody asked

"Does Tai even know?"

"Shit!" Yelled Davis

"Language!"

"We need to tell him right away! He's going to do berserk on us if we don't tell him ASAP!" Davis grabbed out his communicator.

"Try to play it down, we don't want him to go nuts until he has to." Cody warned.

"Yeah, good plan Cody." Davis began to type.

"_Tai—please don't freak out, but something happened to Kari. We think it's just dehydration, but she's on the way to the doctors just to be safe. TK's with her; and Izzy checked her over when we got back from the DigiWorld. They'd be able to explain it all better. We're on our way too."_

"There, I hope he doesn't go too nuts." Davis informed the others. "We need to get going; it's only a few blocks away."

"What should we do?" Asked Minomon. "Are we going to act like toys again?"

"Nothing else we can have you guys do. I doubt they would let an insect into a hospital."

"We can be the 'get-well-soon' gifts for Kari!" Patamon chimed to Gatomon. The cat digimon had been quiet since the ambulance left. She sighed.

"Well, let's go."  
><em>************<em>

The four children and the six digimon arrived in the ER sitting room within 15 minutes. TK was sitting on a bench, staring at the floor and holding a camera. His face was stoic. Patamon jumped onto his lap as Gatomon curled up beside him.

Davis wanted to jump onto TK and punch him. He just wanted to know what was going on. The position his friend was sitting in prevented it though. The boy looked tired. His face held a shade of gray similiar to what was seen on Kari's. All Davis could do was sigh, and sat down next to him. Yolei looked at her feet, and Cody sat on the ground. Ken began to pace. The tension grew between them. To a nurse, it looked like a group of kids worried about a classmate, but to the three teenagers approaching, it looked like people questioning their fate.

"Takeru!" One of the teenagers shouted. TK stood to turn and face his best friend's brother.

"Tai—I—"

Tai silenced TK with a loud slap.

"Yo, Tai! Knock it off!" Matt called.

"Damn it TK! You should have known! Why weren't you paying attention?" Tai was livid. The nightmare from his past replayed in his mind.

"I know. It's my fault." TK lowered his head. Davis jumped up behind the blond.

"Why didn't you do something? You could have!"

"I know."

"Will you knock it off with all the "I know"s? It will not earn you pity or forgiveness. That will not change the fact it's your fault!"

"No, it's not!" Davis snapped into action. "We all should have been paying attention. It must have been sudden. Kari didn't say anything earlier. If she had, we wouldn't have gone down that road." Davis tightened his fist, forgetting about the previous grudge on TK.

"You don't know my sister at all, do you Davis?" Tai challenged.

"Hey!"

"Kari never tells us anything! She never has, and never will. She's always so busy making sure others are okay, she doesn't even think about herself. Whether it's playing soccer, walking down the highway, or camping, you have to be watching out for her."

"Are you saying you don't trust your own sister Tai? Look, she only does that because she wants people to be able to depend on her!" Yolei stepped up into the group. Izzy put an arm up.

"Hold on, we can bicker later. How is she?" Izzy looked directly at TK. TK looked up at Tai, and then focused his eyes to the lower left.

"They—don't know. It looks like bronchitis. They did hook her up, but just to get some fluid back in to her."

"And—" Tai asked. He was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Kari's pretty drained. I don't know if her health triggered it, if it was the stress from the Vilemon, or if she sensed something. But it was intense. I haven't seen her that _Alight_ since the fight against Machinedramon."

"Machinedramon?" Davis asked. Izzy turned to him.

"During the fight with the Dark Masters, we had separated into three groups- One was just Matt and Gabumon, one was Mimi, Joe, and their digimon, the final being the rest of us. Sora, Tai, TK, Kari, and I, had been walking down a long highway in the middle of nowhere, and Kari's cold popped back up. I guess the mix of the excitement, the heat, and the incident with the data, her body just could not fight it." Izzy glanced at TK and Tai.

"She was so sick; we went digging all around the Digi-city to get some medicine."

"Then we were attacked, and separated." Tai's glare on TK had not faded. "TK and Kari were together, as were Izzy and I, and Sora was alone."

"Sora joined us, and we were able to free a group of Numamon." TK said

"Numamon—eww!" Yolei interrupted.

"Not know, Yolei," Cody told her.

"Kari began to glow with the power of her crest, and that power did not just reach Gatomon. It spread to Agumon too. That burst of power helped him warp digivolve. He should have been weak from the previous fight, lack of sleep, and the hunger. Even Angemon and Garudamon were stronger than they normally were. The light directly reached Machinedramon, and the effect paralyzed him. Wargreymon was able to put all the energy into one strike, and that strike was enough to defeat the third Dark Master, leaving only Piedmon left." TK's eyes were distant. The younger ones stared at him in awe as they heard the story. Matt put a hand on his kid brother's shoulder. TK smiled weakly.

"But that wasn't the last time," Tai spoke. "She was _Alight_ during the fight with Diaboramon."

"And after her nightmares about the Dark Ocean, she turned _Alight_." Gatomon whispered.

"What do you guys mean by 'a light'?" Ken asked, without realizing the difference in words. Before anyone could determine an answer, a doctor walked up to the group.

"Excuse me? Are one of you a relative of Yagami Hikari?" She asked.

"I'm Hikari's big brother." Tai replied with a bow. The doctor smiled.

"Are your parents on the way?"

"Yes; why? Is something wrong?" Tai said, exasperated.

"Your sister will be fine. She has a mild infection; it was the heat exhaustion plus dehydration which made her seem so ill. Her boyfriend told us about the gym. You will have to make sure she has plenty of water next time." The doctor looked at the file. "It is a good thing he decided to call us. You should be grateful. I'm sure most kids would just figure she was tired." She smiled at TK. "You're a good young man."

_"I don't feel like a good young man."_ TK thought. The doctor turned back to Tai.

"When your parents get here, have them talk to the nurses. I'll be able to go into detail about this with them." She began to walk towards the rooms.

"Can we see her?" TK asked. The doctor glanced back.

"Once her parents get her, one or two can go see her. But until then she cannot have visitors." She walked out of sight.

"Great, more waiting," Yolei muttered. The three older boys looked at one another.

"So, what are we going to do?" Tai asked Izzy.

"I guess we should ask Gennai and his friends. If the Light is not controlled, it could harm all of us."

"Wait—Kari could hurt us?" Cody asked. Izzy shook his head.

"Not exactly—but Light can be just as dangerous as darkness."

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><p><strong>Well, this will be the last bit before the explaining and rising action begins. What they mean by "<em>Alight<em>" will be explained then. Reviews make me dance with happiness!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alrighty, we last left off with Kari in the hospital, Tai mad at TK, and all the folks in the second season confused on what's going on. This is where the introduction ends and the rising action begins.**  
><strong>Insert disclaimer here.<strong>

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><p>"Alright, how can light be dangerous? I always thought light was good and dark was evil." Yolei asked. The stress from the day had gotten to her. She looked tired. She sat in Matt's van and stared out the window. The group had been silent. It took Izzy a moment to respond.<p>

"Nothing is completely good, or evil, Yolei." Izzy began. "It is up to the person to determine how to do what with it. At one point, we associated darkness, especially that in the virus-type digimon, with evil. But those digimon were the ones who helped us against Piedmon."

"Okay, then how can Kari become evil?" She replied

"She's not evil!" Cody cried.

"Poor choice of words. How can Kari, or Kari's light, hurt us?" Yolei turned to Izzy.

"Light can have the desire to purify all things with the slightest failing. It can lure you into doing something which may be good at that moment, but with a negative consequence. It can also harm our digimon." Izzy told them. His expression was hazy. He seemed reluctant to talk about Kari. He was sharing a secret the group had buried for her, and _from_ her, since she joined the Digi-destined four years ago.

"Kari will hurt Veemon?" Davis asked. He tried to hold in his worry for his oldest friend. He refused to acknowledge the fear.

"No, the Light is coming from Kari, but it is not Kari. You cannot confuse Kari with the power she has. They are two separate people." Joe said softly. "The power is what is risky. It can become addicting, and digimon and other data will flock to her to gain that power. It could be what the data from the Dark Ocean is after."

"Why can't we just get rid of it then?" Davis exclaimed. The group could trust Davis to think of a simple, yet improbably, solution.

"No, we still need the Light. It's the true source of power for our digimon." Sora told the younger kids. "We had not eaten, or slept, for over a day. Our digimon were weak, so weak they could not digivolve even to Champion. But somehow the Light began to embrace them, and they moved faster than if they had eaten. I remember Biyomon's eyes glowing. She spoke like she was in some stage of vertigo. Her voice was so strong. In this odd retrospect, I was frightened for her. The power is what saved us, but what else could the power do?"

"No wonder she was referred to as "Queen"," murmured Ken

"What? Ken?" Matt asked, startled.

-"When I captured the Numamon as the Digimon Emperor, they muttered something about their "Queen" coming to save them—a "Queen of Light." I thought they were just talking about a stronger digimon. It was not until I heard TK talking about the Light when I thought she could be a person."

"She refused for them to call her Queen. Even though she freed all those digimon, she stayed humble." Izzy informed.

"Kari never talked about her powers again." Said Joe.

"She never talked to us about it." Yolei mentioned quietly. His eyes shuffled to the floor. "We've seen it though, at least Ken and I. Her light opened a get to take us out of the Dark World." Her eyes lifted to Izzy. "I wonder if we could find a way to suppress, or lock, her powers."

"But what if we need them?" Asked Ken.

"I don't care if we "need" them! Her life comes first!" Yolei's voice was biting.

"If we do, Yolei, the power could build up and force itself upon us. It could even happen in this world." Matt's sight was locked onto the road. He turned to the right. The group noticed how they had reached the school yard. What felt like a five minute conversation had actually lasted over half an hour. "The energy could cause physical harm to her, too. It would be like an overdose of steroids or adrenaline. "

"But those powers will lure digimon to us. To Kari—" Joe interrupted Davis

"Those powers may also defeat those digimon. We just need to find a way to control her. I hope one of the data elders can help us out." Joe rose to open the van's door." Until then—all we can do is wait until Kari gets better."

"You're awake."

"Hey Mom." Kari's eyes opened to gaze into her mother's. Her eyes looked tired, but focused. She accompanied the look with a soft smile. Her mother's eyes fought back tears.

"Shh, don't talk. They've done further tests, and they think you're developing bronchitis. You'll be fine once you rest for a few weeks."

"But—Mom—"

"Don't you dare Hikari! You need to worry about yourself once or twice a year. What would you do if TK, or Tai were sick like this?"

"Well—" Kari smiled weakly.

"Exactly!" Her mother brushed some hair out of Kari's face. "You would bully him to stay home, in bed, and you would personally bring them soup. Let us bring you soup for once."

"-Okay Mom." Kari smiled, sighed, and closed her eyes. Mrs. Kissed her daughter gently on the forehead.

"Now shush. You're starting to cough."

"Yes Mom."

"That's not shushing."

'How is she Mrs. Yagami?" TK bounced up and towards Mrs. Yagami. His hat had been discarded in one of the hallways. The older woman smiled at her daughter's friend

"She'll be okay in two weeks. Thanks for looking after her, TK."

"Uh—thank you. Kari would do the same for me." The mother turned to her son.

"Once we get home, you'll tell me what really happened, okay Tai?"

"_Figures."_

"I really don't know much, TK was there." Tai shot a glare at the blond.

"Well, tell me now then." She sat down and motioned for the boys to do the same. TK shifted his eyes back and forth between his best friend's mother and brother.

"I didn't really change the story." TK began. "We were walking down one of the roads, and I think what triggered her lungs was the heat mixed with dehydration. Then there was a small, pretty easy confrontation. It probably just stressed her out. We ran her back to the school to get her somewhere cool and get her some water. Then her coughing got worse and she passed out from exhaustion, so we called the EMS."

The two stared silently at the younger boy. They had no response. They knew one was not needed. Tai turned to his mother.

"When will she come home, Mom?"

"By tomorrow. They just want to get liquid back into her system. She'll have some antibiotics, but by next week she should feel better, and in two weeks she'll be back to school. TK, could you take notes for her. Are there any tests?"

"A few, you know middle school. But I'm sure Kari can receive take-homes."

"Thank you." The mother sighed with relief. Tai glanced at TK, and then shifted to the floor.

"Yeah—thank you."

"Tai, you two can go join the others and tell them my daughter will be fine." Mrs. Yagami rose to walk back into Kari's room. The girl had fallen back asleep to a steady beep of her heart rate. "Isn't that right, little one?"

"So—yeah. Kari's coming home tomorrow, but she'll be on bed rest for a week." TK filled the group in once Tai and he had arrived.

"She has bronchitis." Tai told them in a monotone voice.

"Oh no!" Exclaimed Gatomon

"We should have been watching after her." Patamon chimed.

"We should have known." Cody added. The in-training digimon nodded in agreement.

"Man—" Yolei trailed.

"Enough, guys!" TK snapped. "It's not your fault. If anyone's, it's mine. I should have seen the signs over a week ago. She has been pale. I just thought she hadn't been in the sun much. It wasn't until today I had the flashbacks." The group was quiet for a moment, unsure how to proceed. A subject change was inserted by Tai.

"Anyway, tell us what you think, Izzy."

"Well, Tai," the bearer of knowledge began, "we need to talk to the data again. You remember; the thing that possessed Kari to tell us about the history of the digital world. It/They may be able to say what is causing that power. We don't even know how she was Alight in this world. We understood it as a corruption in data at first."

"What?" Davis did not try to hide his confusion.

"How can I define it—" Izzy trailed. "Well, we are transferred to data the moment we enter the digital world. But at the same time, we are not plain data. We are not read-only-memory. It's living in its own way."

"If you think about it, their data is the equivalent of our cells. But cells conform to data, just as the data will conform to cells." Joe explained. The definition made sense to the whole group.

"It's why we digimon can come into your world too. We may reduce to our lower levels if we aren't use to this world, but we're still alive. Just like you guys!" Demiveemon chimed. Davis smiled at his friend

"We never doubted it, guys."

"But how can we remain part data in this world? Isn't that what caused Kari to Alight in the first place? The energy collected by her data, and the data of her crest, needed to find a way to release itself. It chose the strongest, of course." Tai questioned.

"We never really put time into looking into it." Izzy confessed.

"Why not?" Tai snapped.

"Well, we were kind of running for our lives." Matt remarked.

"I may have an idea—" Everyone turned to the quiet speaker.

"Minomon?" Ken asked. Minomon appeared nervous and cleared his throat.

"The Crest of Faith."

"I remember hearing about that in the primary village." Patamon said. "I thought it was just a legend." Izzy typed away furiously to his computer.

"I never heard Gennai mention it. Was there yet another child who we should have had with us?"

"I doubt it. Even the most evil of digimon feared the Crest of Faith. It is said no one can touch it unless they a pure in heart, without any doubt regarding his destiny."

"What can it do?" Tai's voice was skeptical.

"Hey, don't be so hard on Minomon! He's trying!" Ken outburst.

"Legend goes the Crest of Faith can help a digimon by tapping into its excess data and rerouting it to the most efficient course. Maybe, if we apply the power to you humans, it can help Kari organize her powers so she can use them without hurting herself." Minomon concluded. "I don't know much else, and it is just a story I heard. I understand if looking for it doesn't work out for us, though."

"Sorry guys. I'm just—" Tai trailed.

"We understand Tai. I do." Ken's memory drifted to the death of his older brother. He still had yet to go into detail with his new friends about the accident. TK's sigh snapped him back into the present.

"All we can do right now is find out as much about this Crest of Faith as we can. Maybe it can help us."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey strangers, how's life? I didn't get the chance to update last week. The joys of college life.**

**I do not own the rights to the Digimon shows, cards, or handheld game.****  
><strong>

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><p>They had sent a letter to Gennai, asking about the legend of the Crest of Faith. It was going to be a slow start, but the children did not know how else to begin. The past few months had had a set routine. The five younger ones had almost always known what the task at hand was. It was unusual for there to be no path before them.<p>

The sun set, rose, and Kari was able to go home that morning. She was diagnosed with mild bronchitis, with the doctors encouraging her to remain home for the week.

"Mom, I'll be fine in a few days," the girl assured her family. She was sitting up in bed, with a book sitting on her lap.

They, however, insisted on taking more precautions.

"A few days will be next week. We already arranged for TK and Davis to bring you any assignments, and if need be I'm sure Izzy will still have notes from his classes when he was in your grade." Her father spoke in a smooth, but firm voice. "Now, we will be trusting you to stay home to rest. Understand?"

"No digital world either." Her mother added.

"But how do—"

"I'm sure Gatomon agrees with us." The parents shared a look. Kari could only sigh.

"Okay, Mom." Kari looked to the floor. "Well, it's not like I'll be able to get out of Tai's sight." That changed the parents' look into a laugh. "Can I at least have them come over?"

"Of course."

That afternoon over at the school, four of the six kids met as usual.

"So—are we going to see Kari or not?" Davis asked in his typical blunt tone.

"Or course, Davis. But first we're going to see if anyone has responded to the Crest of Faith news." Cody said.

"But Kari—"

"Kari will see us in about two hours. I already messaged her. Plus, all of us, including Ken, will be able to go to her house from the Digiworld." TK interrupted. "She says she cannot wait." He turned to set up the computer.

"Has Tai told her about the new Crest?" Yolei inquired.

"No, Digi-port open!" Before Yolei could question him again, the group was pulled into the Digital World. Once they arrived, TK finished answering her.

"He and I agreed we shouldn't tell her she turned Alight again, or about the Crest, until we have more information. She doesn't need any more stress." TK did not look towards the others.

"But—"

"She needs to focus on her physical health before we go crazy on her spiritual health. Her physical health may even become worse."

"TK-" Another voice called. They turned to see Ken and Wormmon approaching.

"Hey Ken!" Davis waved the two over. "How was the day?" Ken did not answer. Instead, he met TK's eyes,

"I was wondering last night. How would being Alight affect Kari if she was physically stronger?" He asked the blond.

"What do you mean?" TK asked.

"In martial arts we always have some meditation before practice. We work to strengthen our minds and souls along with our bodies. Kari's soul is probably the strongest out of anyone we know, but at the same time her body may be the weakest." Ken reflected.

"She dances though, isn't that something?" Veemon challenged.

"Dancing takes endurance, but it has no defense to it. What I'm trying to ask is: do you think Tai and her parents would be okay with my training her in judo?"

"You can always ask." Cody said, "But you should probably ask Kari herself." A collective sigh was unleashed, and the group began to walk towards the west.

"I wonder if the other digimon have heard anything for us." Hawkmon pondered. The digimon had mostly remained quiet during the debate on Kari. They really did not know what to say. Most of them were unfamiliar with human health.

"I wonder if Gennai will get back to us," Patamon mentioned. He was sitting atop TK's head. It was still hatless.

"He will, Patamon. I'm sure he will." Hawkmon responded.

"This Gennai sounds like a good guy." Davis said. Patamon grinned.

"He is. He helped us get the crests, and find Kari, and defeat the Dark Masters. He is a good guy. Right TK?"

"Huh—" TK's eyes turned upwards to his digimon. "Yes, Gennai is the reason we were even able to find out Kari was the eighth child." He chuckled. "When Joe and I first found out, we were so shocked. Joe babbled about it during the ride on Zudomon, I couldn't help but laugh. We had been freaking out since following Myotismon, and then we were trying to defeat Gatomon, only to find out we knew the eighth child, knew where she was, and knew who her digimon was. We had been freaking out for almost nothing."

"It would have been easier if her cat, Meko, hadn't knocked the Digivice out of her window." Patamon finished.

"I never did like that cat," Davis muttered. "It was so fat." The group had reached the Vegiemon's restaurant, where they saw Biyomon and Palmon eating take-out.

"Hey guys!" Palmon jumped. "Gomamon is inside getting seconds, Gabumon and Tentomon are on their way, but Agumon may not make it. He's on duty at the Primary Village today."

"Thanks Palmon," Yolei said. "So, is there any news on this Crest of Faith?"

"It's surprising, but it turns out a lot of the older, higher level digimon have heard of it. SaberLeomon knew so much!" Biyomon chirped. "The story goes the Crest of Faith was what once protected a group of data and digimon. However, unlike the other crests we know of, it does not have any power to help a digimon digivolve."

"Which we think is the reason Gennai nor the various bad guys went to look for it." Gomamon piped in as he exited the restaurant. He let out a happy belch.

"Eww— Gomamon!" Yolei exclaimed. Her reaction enticed a laugh from the Digidestined.

"Thanks, I needed that," TK chuckled.

"I think we all needed that." Ken said.

"It was my pleasure," Gomamon said with a mock bow.

"Anyway, the place the Crest of Faith was said to reside was under Myotismon's castle." Palmon continued.

"Not there again!" Patamon moaned.

"SaberLeomon thinks that, without even realizing it, the virus-type digimon may have been contaminating the crest. It might be corrupt data now."

"But, if it's corrupt, we can't get it for Kari. Can we?" Armadillomon asked. Biyomon shrugged.

"He said it can be purified. But chances are, it will actually take Kari to purify it." The pink, bird-like digimon sighed.

"Oh come on guys!" Davis forced some cheer into his posture. "We can't give up hope!"

"The guardians of Hope and Light—" TK murmured.

"What?" Cody asked. He had overheard only the word "guardian". TK's eyes snapped to his friend's, and made up an idea on the spot.

"I wonder if the Sovereign guardians would have left anything about this crest." TK shared. "After all, each of the four drew powers from our crests. Would the Crest of Faith be like Ken's crest; or is it a crest all on its own?"

The group tried to maintain a calm atmosphere while they sat down and began to eat. Gabumon and Tentomon joined them, but they did not have any news.

"Well, we should probably go back to our world and go see Kari. We can also try to fill in Tai with what SaberLeomon said." Yolei concluded. Ken looked at his D3, initially to see where the closest TV was. His face took on a scowl.

"We don't have to go to Kari's house."

Veemon turned in shock to the blue-haired boy.

"What? Don't you want to see her?"

Ken shook his head.

"I mean we don't have to go to her house. She's right up the road."

"What!" TK yelled. He grabbed out his own D3. "You have got to be kidding me. Why would she do this? How stupid can that girl be?" He pounded his fist into the ground.

"Now TK, calm down. You're acting like your brother." Gabumon said in his deep voice.

"And I don't think he means in the good way." Patamon added.

"Don't call Kari stupid!" Yolei put her face in front of his. "Why would you say that?"

"Yeah TF! You are her friend! Friends don't call their friends 'stupid'!"

"Friends are also unafraid to be honest about the issues friends are going through. Considering her issues, and even just on her health, she is being stupid." TK stood with a groan. "Tai is going to kill me."

"She's not too far; I bet she's coming to join us. She may be upset about our meeting here without her." Cody said quietly. "Well, we have the food for her. We can give it to her as a "get well" basket." Yolei looked at her D3 too.

"Unless mine is broken, it does not look like she's coming this way," she told the others. Every child looked into their own devices.

"—She's not—" Davis quietly said. His volume soared. "Could someone have her?" He glanced at the others. Yolei yanked out her D-terminal to begin to type furiously.

"I'm sending her a message. If she doesn't answer it within three minutes, we're going after her."

"_Kari"_ the message began, _"we're bringing you a gift from the digimon, and we see you're here in the world already. Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"_

"And—sent," Yolei finished. She snapped her D-terminal shut. "I understand why you are so angry TK, but you still shouldn't call her stupid behind her back." TK did not respond, but turned to Patamon with a shout.

"Digi-Armor Energize!" Patamon glowed in a golden light.

"Patamon armor digi-volve to—Pegususmon. Flying hope!"

TK jumped onto the mythical digimon.

"Well, I plan to tell it to her face!" He shouted as the two flew off towards the signal. Davis began to stomp his feet with frustration.

"Why is he acting like that?" Davis turned to the digimon. "Well? We know Kari is sick. We know she shouldn't be here. We know we have to get her back home. So let's go get her back home!" He jumped with a fist pump into the air. The other kids nodded, and got to their feet.

"Hawkmon digivolve to—"

"Veemon digivolve to—"

"Aquilamon!"

"ExVeemon!"

"Okay, I'll ride with you, Davis, and Cody can ride with Yolei." Ken turned to Yolei and Cody. "We're already quite a ways behind. Pegususmon is incredibly fast."

"Then let's shut up and go!" Yolei boarded her champion digimon and once again checked her D3. "TK is already half way to Kari, so she's not that far off." Her head turned to her belt. "Hold on! I have a message from her."

"Well? Read it!" Davis exclaimed.

"_Hey guys." _Yolei read._ "Thanks in advance for the gift! I know I'll like it. I just wanted to check by where we were attacked yesterday. We should have made sure there wasn't any digimon in the area before leading the bad guys over to us. Oh, and Gatomon agrees with you, but I bullied her into it. Feel free to head over to my house, I'll see you when I get back, Kari." _Yolei turned to look at Davis. "Well, TK was right on one thing. Tai is going to kill all of us." Gomamon chuckled.

"Well, that's Kari for ya." He chimed.

"Let's go guys! We need to get Kari home!" ExVeemon crouched to allow two of the boys up. "It should only take us about five minutes! So I bet TK is already there!"

"Bye guys," Cody turned to the digimon staying behind, "keep us up-to-date, and we'll make sure you all know what we'll be planning."

The four Rookie level digimon waved good-bye. Once they were on their own, Tentamon sighed.

"You know, I wish Izzy had told me what he told those four kids and what he hadn't. I don't know what they know."

"I hope TK didn't say what I think he said." Gabumon's eyes were on the sky.

"It wasn't fair for him and Kari. They had to grow up far too fast." Palmon's own eyes appeared sad.

"Well, all we can do to help them out is to do some more digging on the Crest of Faith. I bet you Centarumon or Andromon would know about the castle!" Biyomon suggested. The four turned to continue searching for information on the legendary crest.

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><p><em><strong>So, we now know the general idea behind the Crest of Faith, and will know more about it once the next chapter concludes. TK is also beginning to form a scheme based on an event in the past, but how will the other children react to being kept out of the loop for so long? Find out next time on Digimon!<strong>_

**Sorry, had to put in something like that. Thanks to all who read, and all who review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Nothing like the joys of papers to delay fiction writing.** **But guess what? People are putting alerts for this story! I do a happy dance for every email alert I get about reviews, alerts, etc. So thank you all!  
><strong>**I have yet to own any of the Digimon corp.**

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><p>"What could you have been thinking?" Yolei heard TK's voice before she had reached where he was arguing with Kari.<p>

"I know what you were not thinking. 'I should call the others over to where we just had a huge battle, maybe there's still bad guys there.' Oh, and maybe you did not bother to think 'I was in the ER for the past 24 hours and am too ill to go to school; so I have to be too ill to go to the Digital World alone.'"

Yolei knew Kari responded, but her volume was too low to be heard.

"I'm not mad at you for being sick. I'm not mad at you for not thinking about others. I just want you to think about your health."

Yolei, Cody, Davis, Ken, and their digimon landed next to the two. Kari glanced at them, abashed, only to look at the ground. Her shoulders were slumped in defeat, her posture displayed her fatigue.

"I'm sorry, everyone." Kari performed a formal bow. TK's arm shot out and grasped her arm.

"Okay, now I am mad," he told her. His eyes darted to the four as if to say "don't interrupt." The blue eyes returned to the brown haired girl, who had been suppressing a cough. "I am mad that you are putting yourself through all of this. The only person you may need to apologize to is your mother if she finds out you are not home. Now let's get you there." Kari looked up to meet TK's eyes. She nodded reluctantly.

Davis decided to join in; with a hope a silly comment would invoke a smile from his crush.

"Yeah, can you imagine what your mom would say to Tai? She'd be going crazy!" He ended the exclamation with a forced laugh. Kari looked down at the ground again to sigh.

"You're making things worse, Davis." Cody said quietly.

"No—he's right." Kari replied. She walked over to join the group. "Let's get me home." Her face remained downcast.

Ken stepped up to her. Kari's gaze jumped to his.

_Why does she look—afraid?_ He asked himself. He gently reached to feel her forehead. _And why would she come here when she still has this fever?_

"Let's get you home indeed. You still have a fever. Here," he offered her his hand to help her atop Nefertimon. "The more you rest the sooner you'll feel better. My mom ground some tea up for you; she says it is one of the best things to help soothe the throat."

"Thanks, Ken." She smiled down to him. She reached out her own hand. "Care to ride? I don't think you've ridden either Nefertimon or Pegasusmon." Ken smiled.

"No, I have not. Mind another passenger Nerfertimon?"

"Of course not!" The Egyptian-like digimon replied. "Come join us, Ken and Wormmon."

"Once we get home we can start to spoil you Kari!" Yolei chirped. "I have soup for you!"

"Thanks Yolei. Thanks everyone. And so—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. You say it enough." Yolei interrupted.

"Yeah, Kari," Armadlliomon added from atop Aquilamon. "No worries. Let's just get home. I'm getting hungry." An agreement was sounded. The group took off. The TV was only a few minutes away; Kari had only been in the DigiWorld for a short time, but it was clear to Ken it had been too long. He could only assume TK felt stronger on the issue. He had not said a word since he let go of her arm. He barely even looked at her. There was a general unease amongst the group. Each child was dueling with their own minds.

"_Now, he is impossible to read. I still remember how shocked I was when we fought. I would even expect Cody to confront me before TK would. I guess I can try to separate us from the rest and ask him if there is something else he is concerned about. I wonder what he knows that the older kids did not tell us. I wonder if Kari herself even knows."_ Ken glanced over to TK and Pegasusmon. The blonde's eyes were still locked on the horizon.

"_I understand why TK's mad at me,"_ Kari's eyes were half closed as she bordered on sleep. _"But he has to get how I need to help out with everything too. He would be protesting even more if we told him to stay home. I swear he protects me more than Tai does."_ She scoffed. _"I bet Tai even put him up to it. I get it, guys. Something is going wrong, and you two want to keep me safe. But I will need to know what it is you are trying to keep me safe from."_

"_Maybe we should try to find the up-side to everything_." Ideas ran through Davis's mind. _"This untapped power could help us. We fear everything at one point. This power Kari has is what helped them defeat the Dark Masters."_ His eyes widened_. "I bet that power was what even freed Andromon! After all, all it took was her tears to make him reject the Dark Ring. I bet we could find a way to use that power to let our guys digivolve even if there is a Control Spire. Maybe we can all use her power of light to get our guys to go Ultimate on their own!" _Davis looked at Kari from behind_. "Ken probably even had the right idea with martial arts. Strengthening her body will empower her mind."_

"_I hate not knowing what is going on. We're a team. Why are these teammates acting so differently all of a sudden? Why didn't they explain this more? First we didn't even know Kari had this weird power until the Dark Ocean bit, and now we know how much it can strain her body. She knows she is weak, but came to this part without telling us anything! Arg—what's going on?"_ Yolei shouted in her mind. She wished she could have shouted aloud, it would have made her feel better_. "I'll have to put pressure on Izzy or Joe the next time we meet up. Those guys crack far too easily."_

Cody sat behind Yolei. The flying digimon swooped down towards the television.

"_Wish we could all just take a weekend off. I'm sure we're all tired from this back-and-forth bit. We could all sleep, and then formulate a plan with no one being left out. I wonder why Kari came here. Maybe she'll tell us once she gets better." _Cody thought and hopped off of Aquilamon_. "I remember Matt talking about this sixth sense she always had, and when I approached him, he told me how TK became her unofficial protector from the moment they found her. Did Kari come here because she saw something? Is TK reacting like this because he is afraid of something she once saw in the past? I hope they'll tell us what's going on."_ Cody's thoughts drifted as he turned to look at Kari. Ken and TK had reached up to help her off of Nerfertimon; the brunette's complexion was once again pale and her body fought a losing battle against gravity. _"I'm starting to see why TK was so mad. She really should be at home."_

The moments of inner conversations had ceased. TK's eyes were still cold as he turned to the three people behind him.

"You guys ready?" He inquired. His voice had a forced lightness. They nodded as the digimon returned to their common levels. TK turned back to the terminal.

"Digi-port open!" The light rushed, engulfed the children and digimon, and they emerged at Kari's house in the typical pile. Ken held Kari upright. Her eyes were open, but still downcast.

The first thing they saw was Tai and Izzy sitting by the computer. Tai's eyes were colder than TK's; Izzy looked uneasy. Davis allowed a nervous laugh when Tai rose to approach.

"Umm—hey guys," he greeted as he rose. Izzy shook his head, as if to say "Not now." Tai did not respond. He reached his hand out to Kari's. She hesitated, then sighed and took it. The older boy firmly grasped it to lead his sister back to bed. There was an uncomfortable silence between the spectators. Izzy awkwardly cleared his throat in attempts to restart the conversation.

"Is there any news on the Crest of Faith?" He asked. Yolei was the first to answer.

"Yes, actually. The guys were able to meet with some of the upper-level digimon. The crest is said to protect its holder and the people around her. Some of the Ultimates are even out looking for any clues on to where it can be. The main thing the digimon found out is the ones they look up to and trust the most believe it's out there. Biyomon put emphasis on how a SaberLeomon talked about the possible need to purify it." Her voice was enthusiastic. "They all seemed excited about who told them that, too."

"If it's our SaberLeomon, then I'm excited too." Izzy said. Tai and Gatomon returned to the room.

"She's already asleep," Gatomon told them. Tai continued with Izzy's statement

"I bet even Ogremon is helping out then. It may be his new contest- whoever can find the most info first wins." Tai's voice held a forced optimism. He looked towards the younger children. "So, what was Kari doing?"

"She said she went to check the battleground for any signs of injured digimon." Patamon chimed. TK unleashed a quiet huff, but said no words.

"Great, I wonder what she saw this time." Tai replied. "I'll pester her when she wakes up. I swear we have to babysit her."

"Hey! Your sister is a stronger person than you think! I bet she's the worst fear any enemy could have." Yolei unleashed. "Both you and TK keep talking down about her. Yeah, she may not be the athletic champs you two are, but Ken even has an idea! He was going to ask you about it Tai! He'll train her in basic judo as a way to strengthen her immune system, and the added endurance will help support this weird second power you older kids know about but barely explained. Sure, Kari will be gross for the first week or so, but I bet she'll feel better after a basic shower."

Ken chuckled. Gatomon sighed.

"You need to work on how you suggest things." Gatomon told her

"That was not the way I was planning on bringing the topic up," Ken added, "though the general idea fits." Ken turned to the older boys. "What do you think Tai? Maybe just once or twice a week I can teach Kari, maybe some of you other guys too, the basics of judo. We can say it's to help strengthen her lungs. My main thing which made me think about this, however, is I thought the mental power Kari has is from martial arts training. If her mind is this strong with no experience; I cannot fathom how much basic meditation will help her control this power.

"And, again, if you still do not want to tell her about turning _Alight_, I'll just say it's for her lungs." Ken concluded. He looked Tai in the eyes. "Well? What do you think?"

"I think we should give it a shot." Gatomon said. Tai nodded.

"Okay. I'll tell our parents your idea, and then we can ask Kari about it. It may even be a distraction while we go looking for this Crest some more."

The door behind them was closed to muffle the conversation but, in that dark room, a faint, white light began to glow.

* * *

><p><strong>Mild cliffhanger, I am quite evil. I am off this whole weekend, so maybe I'll have time to get chapter 7 up. Andromon will have even more information on the mysterious crest.<br>Review please! Critical ones are welcomed!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you crestoflight3 and ShiningHeart of Thunderclan!**

**Sorry for the delay. I was stuck half way through the chapter.**  
><strong>I don't own the rights to Digimon. Bank of America owns this laptop until I pay my college loans back.<strong>

* * *

><p>There once was a rare oasis on the southern tip of the continent of Server, one which seemed protected against the heat and drought of the vast desert. The digimon would dwell there only briefly before wandering out into the sand covered lands. There was something odd about the water; it held a sweet aftertaste. Those who drank the water frequently somehow returned to the lower level forms. The visitors of the oasis determined the water seeks its consumer's most innocent mind and, for the residents of Server, that mind barely existed after the "In-Training" timeline began. As all forms of data held some darkness, the digimon would be unable to return to its normal level ever again, unless it could somehow overcome all forms of internal, and external, corrupt data.<p>

A group of viral digimon once tried to conquer the oasis for another benefit it held: a plethora of food. They perceived their combined force would be too much for the mythical power of the water to handle. They stormed the fertile grounds, and came close to victory. However, the land had an unknown defense. It surrounded itself with a pink light, which locked digimon either inside its field or outside of its boarder. Those captured were careful not to consume the feared water. The pink light turned gray, and rain began to form. The rain water was also empowered. It purified the virus; each raindrop affected the data like an acid, until the digimon had been chipped away into outdated programming.

The tale concludes shortly after. The oasis, too, began to fade away. It was assumed the light took up too much RAM, and suffered a system crash.

Some digimon, especially the vaccines, have reported seeing flickers of light illuminating a shrinking pond. Pixiemon would be willing to swear by it.

* * *

><p>The light shining from Kari's digivice was faint, as was the light atop her chest. Her right hand glowed brighter with the pink outline of a flower surrounding the display. Her left hand portrayed a blue crescent moon; something unfamiliar to most of the digital world. It tingled slightly, as if the hand had fallen asleep. But with the exception of an occasional cough, Kari had a much-needed deep sleep.<p>

It was a sleep her friends looked like they needed too. They sat around the Yagami living room without much to say or much to do. The part which was the most active was the smaller digimon who happily ate the instant food provided by Yolei. A few ideas filtered the minds of the children, but they did not have enough backing to be mentioned.

"So Davis began. _'Well, guess I should just go for it.'_ "Tai, Izzy, TK, I need you three to hear me out. I don't know about the other four, but I'm sick of asking questions. What I want to know is why we aren't trying to find a way to use Kari's powers to help us. You said we can't get rid of them, and that we can't suppress them. So what can we do with them? We are always barely escaping BlackWarGreymon and are constantly having to run away."

Tai's head snapped to the younger version of himself.

"Davis—"

"I know, Tai. Just let me finish with one more thing- what about the other crests? Could we harness those powers too?"

TK spoke up for the first time since returning to their world.

"That 'power' is the power that allows her to live Davis." He did not even bother to look at the other boy. TK's eyes were fixed on the clouds outside of the window. The sun was beginning to set, and the waxing moon already in the sky. He shook his arm slightly, his lack of motion causing it to fall asleep.

"I still don't get how light is different from the other crests. And what about the Digi-eggs? They unleashed a power! Could we tap into that energy?" Izzy swallowed nervously.

"The thing with the crests, you guys, is they reflect a trait within the bearer's personality. Tai's crest first glowed when he faced his fear of the fence and overcame that fear. He showed courage. Hawkmon reacted to the Digi-egg of Sincerity when Yolei approached Digitamamon to tell him exactly what she thought Izzy's voice trailed off.

"And light isn't a trait," Ken finished Izzy's thought. Tai nodded.

"There have been times when our own crests were unable to glow. Once Matt and I got into a fight, probably due to the stress from the Dark Masters, and because the last thing on his mind was friendship, his crest did not react to the command for Garurumon to digivolve. Even when we are all surrounded by darkness, Gatomon would be able to digivolve." Tai told them.

"I remember you guys talking about that. Sora told me about Birdramon evolving when she felt how much she loved her digimon." Cody said.

"I guess you can't really "feel" light, huh?" Demiveemon spoke.

"No matter the darkness, no matter what the emotions, light will always be in all of us." TK said. He had yet to turn from the window. "Even no matter where you are, you can still find it."

"The others had to do something that activated the crests. The moment Kari had her crest and digivice, I instantly digivolved." Gatomon told them. She snickered. "I think Patamon was jealous."

"Hey! You made it look so easy. I had only digivolved to Champion two or three times, and you made it look so easy. You also rarely ended up in your Rookie form, while all of us returned to In-Training." Patamon responded. His wings flapped a few times. "Why was that, anyway?"

"It's probably just I didn't need to digivolve twice, that can take quite a bit of energy." Gatomon hissed as she looked at her naked tail. "I wish this was my Rookie form. I'm certainly weak as a Rookie."

TK finally turned to look at his old friend.

"We'll find a way, Gatomon. You'll be able to kick our butts again one day." He forced a smile. "You're too stubborn not to." He shook his lower left arm again.

"Everything okay, TK?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, my arm just keeps falling asleep."

"Paresthesia is common during times of elevated stress, if you have poor circulation, or a simple vitamin deficiency, especially relating to the B vitamins. It could even be basic dehydration." Izzy recited. TK chuckled.

"I just put too much pressure on my wrist. It's—". TK was interrupted by a signal noise from the computer.

"Hold on! I just got an email!" Izzy looked ecstatic as he opened the file.

"Is it from Gennai?" Tai asked.

"Is it about the crest?" Yolei inquired.

"Hold on a nano." Izzy's eyes ran through the text. "Listen to this!  
>'Dear Izzy,<p>

Greetings, my old friends. It has been quite a long time. I wish the circumstances were better. But alas.

There have long been tales about the Temple of Faith. The vaccine digimon of ancient times were said to hold ancient rites to secure the power of Faith. But then one day, a terrible storm ravaged the area. The temple was destroyed, and all that remained was a tile holding the rune encrypted behind the altar.'"

"Yeah! What about Kari?" Tai asked.

"'There is a rhyme Centarumon once told me.

"_When the darkest of waters awash those Alight  
>And are trapped in the tides frozen of fright<br>A golden glow will surround those most dear,  
>To protect from that which the white light must fear.<br>As a voice will invoke the followers of night  
>Faith will be forced to return to the fight.""<em>

"What the heck could that mean?" Davis asked.

"'I don't know what that means. The message read.

"Figures," Yolei muttered.

"'I wish I could help more. I'll contact you if I find more. Gennai'." Izzy made a face. "Why does it seem Gennai teases us with information?"

"Okay, how are we supposed to make my kid sister feel better with one stupid poem! It's not even a good one!" Tai made a fist. "That old man seriously pisses me off!"

"I agree with Tai." Davis shared. For once, Yolei agreed with him.

"How can we take a silly poem and use that to protect Kari?" She asked.

"Don't forget about Arukenimon and Mummymon. What if they get involved with this?" Cody added.

Ken had been quiet while the e-mail was read, but the first part of the poem caused him to shiver.

"_The darkest of waters—could that be the Dark Ocean? No, I don't want to bring that up yet. Everyone is stressed out enough. If more evidence gathers behind my idea, then I'll bring it up."_

"Here's an idea—if this is popular amongst the vaccine type digimon; maybe we should go talk to the Andromon." Ken spoke up. "He's the first one I can think of that you older kids worked extensively with."

"And are there any others with whom you older kids know?" Wormmon asked. Patamon perked up.

"Pixiemon!" He chirped. Tai grinned.

"And Whamon!" TK nodded.

"We should definitely take this to Centarumon and double check to make sure Gennai quoted this right."

"I can't wait to meet these digimon we've been hearing about." Upamon chirped.

"Yeah, I think the only one I've actually met was Whamon." Cody spoke. Yolei and Davis exchanged looks and smiled.

"So, do we have a plan?" Yolei inquired, looking at TK and Tai. Both boys nodded.

"I think all of us should go. One older kid with one younger kid so the digimon all know they don't have to fear us." Tai directed. "This weekend will be when we all head over, the sooner the better in my mind. Izzy," he turned to the red-head, "Can you still access the old folder we had of all the digimon we ran into? And can you locate all the vaccine-type?"

Izzy grinned.

"Already taken care of, guys," he replied. "If I just get the D-terminals, I can upload the files for everyone."

"You're the man!" Davis cheered.

While the others began to format a plan, TK once again looked out the window. He rubbed at his left hand; it still felt the pins-and-needles sensation. He, too, felt an insecurity relating to the odd, mildly tacky poem Gennai had shared. But, TK felt a resurge of hope at talking with Andromon and Pixiemon about everything.

"_We can make this work."_ He thought. The numb feeling in his hand finally faded away.

* * *

><p><strong>There will be some action during the next chapter. I wish I could give some type of idea on when said chapter will be up, but as it is midterms, I really don't know when I'll be able to.<br>Reviews make me dance!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I know, two within 24 hours. I actually knew exactly what I wanted to get done with this chapter.**

**I laughed reading your review, crestoflight3. How much caffeine had you had, chica? It was so cheerful (plus, those are some interesting ideas)! And I'm happy you like the last chapter endlessfun!**  
><strong>Do I have any rights to the Digimon series? Nope.<strong>

**Second note: I keep catching errors: typos, spelling, etc. Feel free to tell me. I was studying mathematics all day, and perhaps my grammar is suffering from it.  
><strong>

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><p>Friday night arrived. The older of the Chosen Children: Tai, Sora, Matt, and Joe, had grown excited with the plans of going to meet old friends. They met with the younger children at the park where they once gathered to decide how to fight against Myotismon.<p>

"So, here's my idea." Joe started. He had already set up a schedule, his reflexive way of displaying his reliable self. "The school will be open tomorrow for a conference, but it will be on the other side of the building from the computer labs. We should be able to access them, so we can pair up into five teams. That way we can cover more ground and meet with more of our old friends."

Ken raised his hand.

"Excuse me?"

Joe nodded to signal his pause.

"I think it might be best if I didn't go." Ken said.

"What? But why?" Davis asked.

"Well, I know there are still some of the digimon who are not comfortable around me, or have not forgiven me. I can keep guard of the computer lab."

"Ken—" Davis looked at his friend, who had lowered his eyes to look at the grass. _'One day you will need to forgive yourself.' _He thought.

"Maybe one of us should keep watch instead," Sora mused. "If people found out you were hanging around the school, you would draw more attention than the conference."

"True," Ken sighed. Tai's eyes widened.

"Here's an idea! How about you spend the afternoon with Kari? She's feeling better, and if you two are just hanging out, then she'll be less likely to jump up and join us all in the Digital World." Tai grinned towards Ken. "Plus, while my introverted sister would never admit it, she's been lonely. And I know she would like to get to know you better." Tai's grin turned slightly softer. "We all would, in fact."

T.K. smiled as well.

"You two probably have some things in common." '_Quite a bit more than any of us realize,' _TK joked in his mind. Ken looked up at the brown haired boy and nodded.

"Then it's decided. You'll spend the day keeping an eye on Kari, maybe talking about the judo plans, and Izzy can stand watch in the lab. He's normally the guard anyway. I'll pair up with Davis, Sora can go with Yolei. Cody can team up with Joe, and, of course, Matt and T.K. will be the final team. Oh, and I want to try to find Piximon."

"I can be Submarimon and find us Whamon," Upamon suggested.

"And we can be above the water with Ikkakumon." Cody added.

"We can find Andromon. The city is huge so an aerial view might help." Poromon decided, with Yolei nodding her agreement. "That leaves Centarumon for you two," she told the blond brothers.

"Okay, so we have a plan," Matt said in conclusion. "We'll meet up at 9am in the lab. But, I think we should each go to different spots at first. After all, Pixiemon's over on Server, while Andromon would be on File Island."

"That works for me," Yolei replied. The group nodded in agreement.

"Alright! The mission has started! Let's find that crest for Kari!" Davis cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"Yay!" Demiveemon chimed and bounced with excitement. The group laughed as they enjoyed the tepid air.

* * *

><p>At 8:30, Ken Ichijouji nervously knocked on the Yagami door. Despite being part of the team for a few months, the only ones he had really been one-on-one with were Davis and Izzy. To him, Kari was an enigma. She was overtly friendly, and extended kindness to him since the day they stumbled into the phase warp. He knew very little about her first trip into the DigiWorld, and even less about why she had previously gone to the Dark Ocean. Ken knew T.K. tried to guard her, and about Davis's infatuation. He thought he saw Kari acknowledge it, and gently declined both the bodyguard offers and the flirting. Ken had also heard from Davis how Kari expressed concern for BlackWarGreymon; she believed the false digimon was running from his own fear: loneliness.<p>

"Hello?" Ken's mind was snapped to the outside world as Mrs. Yagami opened the door.

"Hello Yagami-san," Ken answered in a formal tone with a bow, "I was wondering how Kari was feeling, and if I could visit her for a time."

"Oh, Ken, yes? Your mother made the tea for us." Ken nodded. "Yes, come in!" Kari's mother opened the door wider and gestered him into the apartment. "Kari woke up a little while ago, but her brother is still asleep. You know Tai, yes?"

"Asleep? I thought he had to meet up with the others—to play soccer."

The mother chuckled.

"He probably does. If you want you can try to wake him. I'll tell Kari you're here. I'm sure she would want to look moderately put together for a visitor."

Ken walked over to Tai's room, where the door was already opened. He knocked regardless.

"Tai? Shouldn't you be heading out?" Minomon asked loudly. The response was a groan.

"Tai?" The tiny digimon chuckled.

"What?" A verbal response sounded.

"You're late."

"What?" Tai rose. "Hey Ken, what are you doing here?"

"Well, it's Saturday, and unless the plans were cancelled, shouldn't you be at the school? You were talking about this Pixiemon the other afternoon. You don't want to stand him up, do you?"

Tai raise an eyebrow.

"Did you just make a joke, Ichijouji?" Tai turned to the clock. His eyes widened when he read the time. He jumped out of bed.

"Crap!"

Ken smiled softly and closed the door so the older boy could dress. He returned to the living quarters, where he saw Kari sitting up on the couch. A pink blanket was resting on her lap, a cup of tea in one hand and her sleeping digimon beneath the other. Her complexion had far more color than it had the other day, and her eyes appeared focused.

"Ken! This is quite a surprise. Thank you for coming over." Kari smiled warmly at him. She had missed her friends over the past few days. A nagging voice in her mind had feared they were still upset with her for going to the battle site alone; but Ken's visit reassured her things were fine." She waved her free hand at the chair, inviting him to sit. Gatomon unleashed a soft meow at its removal.

"You are welcome. I should thank you for letting me over. I just wanted to check up on you for everyone. Plus, I have an idea. I talked to Tai about it, but I think it should be up to you."

"Oh?" Kari questioned.

"Well, I remember how you briefly mentioned being ill in the past, and I was wondering what kind of active stuff you do." His voice was soft. "Besides running from evil beings, of course."

Kari giggled.

"Well, besides dance, not much. I play soccer a bit." She made a face. "But I'm not very good at it. Tai and Sora are far better than I." She laughed again. "Also, I saw you play, and I would just bore you with my lack of skills." Ken was unprepared for her humbleness.

"I'm sure you play well. But, if it's not too much to ask, how have your lungs felt when you play?"

"Well, I've had hypotension for years. I also had an acute pneumonia when I was about 5. My breathing will always be weaker than average."

Ken nodded. Their conversation paused at the sound of a door banging open.

"Hey, off to play soccer. Catch you later, Ken. And Kari, take your medicine and don't leave the house." Tai told the two. He grabbed a bag, threw on his shoes, and rushed out the door. Ken turned to the clock. It read 8:52.

With a "now or never" state of mind, his focus turned back to Kari and he tried to subtly start the plan to make her stronger.

"Would you be interested in judo? I could teach you some of the basics. There are some breathing exercises that could help out." Ken was slightly startled at a sudden enthusiastic response.

"Really? Thank you Ken! That sounds incredible of you." Her grin sparkled. It was infectious. Ken could not help but grin widely back.

* * *

><p>"I'm here!" Tai shouted as he barged into the computer lab. Eight people sat around looking bored.<p>

"Finally," Yolei said. "You know you're late if Davis gets her before you."

"Yeah, by a full three minutes!" Chimed Yukamon.

"Shut up!" Davis groaned. A general laugh emitted.

"Well, we can joke later. Because we're late!" T.K. said as he walked to the computer.

"Okay guys, report back to me every hour. I'll be here watching the room." Izzy instructed.

"Yeah, playing Minesweeper." Matt muttered. Another laugher sounded.

"Well, let's go. Digiport open!" Yolei cried and lifted her D3 to the screen. Sora and her slid into the Digital World.

"Right behind you!" Tai and Davis entered next. T.K. shook his head with a chuckle.

"For guys whom are always late, they certainly seem to be in a rush." Matt, Joe, Cody, and himself held up their devices to join the others.

"Good luck guys." Izzy told their fading forms.

* * *

><p>"Why do we always end up in deserts?" Davis grunted. Tai was smiling widely. He saw Agumon sitting a few paces up. He was trying to rest in the limited shade of a cactus.<p>

"Wouldn't a reptile be happy to be in the desert? You are cold-blooded, right?" Tai teased as he walked up to his longtime pal.

"What's cold-blooded?" The dinosaur-like digimon looked confused. Tai shook his head.

"Never mind. So, do you remember where Piximon's collisium was?"

"Kinda. There's the well we passed, and there is that giant cactus about half a mile that way." Agumon waved to his left.

"So we go right?"

A loud squawk echoed from above.

"Or—we just run!" Veemon shouted and pointed to the sky. A green bird rushed towards the four.

"That's a Parrotmon! We fought him at Heighton View Terrace when we went to find the eight child!" Agumon cried.

"What do you say, Davish? DO we fight?" Veemon turned to his partner.

"Is it an actual digimon or just a spire?" Davis ducked as the Parrotmon tried a low swipe.

"We won't know until we fight back!" Tai declared.

"Okay then! Get ready Veemon!" Davis held out his D3.

"Shall we give it a try, Agumon?" Tai reached for his own digivice.

"Yeah!"

"Veemon digivolve to—Exveemon!" Exveemon rose, flapping his blue wings.

"Agumon digivolve to—Greymon!" The dinosaur marched forward

"Yeah! Good job guys!" Davis cheered.

"V-laser!" Exveemon shot his signature attack. Parrotmon dodged it with ease.

"Nova blast!" Greymon unleashed a fireball. Parrotmon folded its wings to deflect.

"Why aren't they pushing him back?" Davis exclaimed

"Whether or not he's really a digimon, Parrotmon is an Ultimate level. Two Champions can't really hurt him, we can only try to push him off of us." Tai's face contorted with a growl. "Damn it, if only Greymon could still digivolve.

Parrotmon struck Exveemon. The blow pushed him back several yards.

"Urgh—" he grunted. Parrotmon continued toward him.

"Pit bomb!" A missile flew between the two. Parrotmon jumped back.

"Pit bomb!" A second projectile stuck, revealing the black metal. A small, pink digimon jumped into the fray.

"Piximon!" Tai shouted.

"Wait—that's the digimon who helped you guys with Etemon?" Davis's face was puzzled.

"He's a control spire!" Piximon exclaimed, snapping attention back to the battle. "Get him!"

"Veelaser!"

"Nova Blast!"

"Pit bomb!" The three attacks hit the false digimon together. The force caused the spire to crack, and it dissolved into bits of data. It was blown away by the desert wind. With the fight over, the two Champions returned to their normal Rookie forms.

"That takes care of that, yup yup!" Piximon settled onto the sand. "Tai, Agumon! How has your training been? Have you come for some refresher courses?" He turned to Davis and Veemon. "And who are your new companions?"

"Oh, this is Davis." Tai gestured to the boy with his old goggles, "and this is his digimon partner Veemon."

"Um—hi," Davis grinned awkwardly, his hand automatically rising to scratch the back of his head. He had heard so much about this powerful digimon, he had not expected one smaller than the In-Training digimon.

"I'm pleased to meet you, yup yup!" Piximon bowed formally. "Would you like some training too?"

Tai laughed.

"Not now, Piximon. We actually have been looking for you. What do you know about the Crest of Faith?" Tai asked. His own expression was perplexed as he saw Piximon's eyes widen in alarm.

"What do you know about the Crest and Temple?" The pink digimon sounded both alarmed and reluctant.

"Well, nothing really." Davis confessed. "We're looking for it to try to help our friend, Kari."

"Your younger sister? The one I met briefly during the fight with the Dark Masters?" Piximon inquired. Tai nodded.

"You see, something—odd keeps happening to Kari. For some reason, she keeps glowing _Alight._"

"_Alight? _The eighth Digidestined is the last Child of Faith?"

"Wait, child of faith?" Veemon asked, not recognizing the stress the other digimon put on the name. "Who's that?"

Piximon sighed.

"Let's go to my house. It's hot and this may be a long story."

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter could even be longer, but then it would end up too long. There will be a tangent discussion with Ken and Kari between the DigiWorld scenes.<br>Well, I hope you guys liked this one! Review it and dance with me!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you Shiningheart, endlessfun, and crestoflight3! Shall we cha-cha? Sorry this took longer, but I was a bit stuck on how to get from point A to point D.  
>But I hope you like this! If you see any errors, let me know.<br>It may be annoying, but I look at Andromon as being sex-less, and the only English pronoun for that is "it".  
>I do not own the rights to any of these names, places, or the general theme.<br>**

* * *

><p>"I was hiding in the alley, watching Phantmon attack Matt, and Birdramon fighting off a giant digimon. I didn't know what to do. People were being captured, my brother's friends were being hurt, and Gatomon was in danger; simply because they wanted me. So I turned myself in." Kari took a sip of tea. "I was still naïve enough to believe Myotismon would leave everyone alone." She chuckled. "I even challenged him. I told him I was there to stop him."<p>

"How did you plan to do that?" Minomon asked Gatomon.

"Well—we didn't have a plan," Gatomon admitted. "I guess we were lucky how quickly the others arrived."

"Sounds more like fate than luck." Minomon said. Kari smiled.

"Fate sounds more like it. We all have fate." Her eyes turned to the shadows. She put her tea down to rub harshly on her left hand. For some reason, it kept falling asleep. "It can be scary, and even cruel." She turned back to Ken, whose expression looked troubled. "I'm sorry if I said something."

"No, it's nothing like that," Ken's voice recited. "There have been times when I hated fate." Minomon jumped into his friend's lap.

"Ken," the digimon looked up at the boy, "You should tell her. " _'Maybe he can finally forgive himself, if anyone could help, it is Kari.'_ Minomon thought. Ken looked at the ground. A cool hand reached for his. His eyes jumped to meet the unique reddish-brown ones. Ken could only swallow, and with a deep breath, he began to open up his buried memories.

"Sam was a few years older than me; I think the same amount as Tai is to you. He was everything to me. He was my idol, my friend, my comfort. He was everything I have been trying to be. He was smart, kind, and athletic. He was always there for me. I will admit; I was jealous of how much our parents focused on him. I had wished there was something I could do that would make me stand above him, just one thing.

"One night, something shot out of the computer in Sam's room and landed in front of us. Sam looked over it, but it did not respond or do anything. He put it into his desk and said:

'Now Kenny-boy, don't play with this until I know what it actually is.'"

"It was a digivice, wasn't it?" Kari asked. Ken nodded.

"Yes, it was initially one of the old ones." Gatomon perked up.

"When was this?"

"It was about four, maybe five years ago." He responded.

"Was it the summer when we were attacked?"

"Yes," Ken looked amazed how the digimon knew so much. "It was a few days before the battle happened. Why?" Kari placed her hand on Gatomon to pause the questions.

"We'll talk about that after you tell me more about the digivice. Did it ever bring Sam to the digiworld?"

Ken shook his head.

"No, but it brought me." Ken smiled slightly. "I wanted to look at it myself, so one day I crept into Sam's desk. The moment I touched the device, I was sucked into the computer."

"That's when he met me!" Minomon chirped. Ken looked at his friend.

"That's right. As Wormmon, he told me that I was the true owner of the digivice, and I shouldn't feel guilty about following the path which was mine." The boy turned back to the girl. "I was there for a few weeks. I don't remember exactly what happened, but something felt like a quake on the last day. I remember falling, and I dropped the device. It lit up, and a television appeared. Next thing I know, I was on the floor of Sam's room. When I looked at the clock, barely fifteen minutes had passed in our world. I was in shock. That's when Sam walked into the room.

"I could not even tell him about what happened. He was upset that I had gone into his room, and that I used what he thought was his." Ken smiled sadly. "I now know he was worried about what could have happened, but at the time I was angry. I was angry he got everything. He was the best, he was the pride of my parents, and even complete strangers wanted to talk about how smart he was. I wished he would just go away." Ken's voice broke. "And he did."

Kari's grasp on his hand tightened.

"He was hit by a car, and it killed him. I know it's not my fault, but I hated myself for years. I never really addressed it until a few months ago, after I stopped being the Digimon Emperor. When you guys reminded me what the DigiWorld really was, I cried for the first time since Sam's death. When I went home, I just climbed into bed and didn't get up. Long story short, I got up, went to the Primary Village to get Leafmon, and after getting home I went to see my parents." Ken could not stop his eyes from tearing.

"And, just like I'm doing now, I finally could cry and talk with my parents about losing my big brother."

Kari rose to give her friend a hug.

"Sometimes, crying can help more than any words can."

* * *

><p>"Wow, this place looks weird."<p>

Yolei had yet to go to the city by Infinity Mountain. She had not even been to File Island yet. It was daunting how the mountain towered over the land, casting a shadow which reached across to the ocean.

"It does. The last time I was in the city it had been morphed into Spiral Mountain," Sora replied. Her eyes looked a bit glassy. Yolei knew there were stories from that adventure the older kids did not like sharing, but she once again yearned to hear about the trials the others had to go through; the quests which made them who they had become.

"So, where shall we land, Yolei?" Aquilamon inquired. The girl's eyes scanned the horizon. Sora's vision fixed upon a dusty smoke to their left.

"Look!" She called to the others. "Something's going on!" Yolei looked to the rising pillar.

"Someone's in trouble! Aquilamon!" The two dived towards the battle.

"Wait for us!" Birdramon cawed. The fire bird raced after her comrades. Sora gasped.

"That's over by the Yokomon Village!"

The group flew towards the fire. It appeared ti be a war between red flames and blue ones.

"What's going on?" Yolei yelled.

"Do you see any Yokomon?" Sora asked, her eyes scanning the ground. She and Birdramon dove to the end of the village.

"Do you think I know what a Yokomon is? All I see is that grey think fighting the red thing!" The younger girl gestured to the left. Two digimon were struggling with each other. To her, one looked like a black and white image of the other. She thought she recognized the red one; it looked like someone T.K. once described. "Isn't that a Meramon?" Yolei asked her partner and pointed to the red being.

"Yes it is!" Aquilamon responded. "But what can we do? Who is doing what?"

"SkullMeramon is trying to claim the village as his own." A robotic voice recited. Yolei turned to look behind her. She saw Sora standing on the ground by the metal robot digimon—the Andromon they were looking for. "Meramon is trying to fight him off."

Yolei and Aquilamon returned to the ground. Behind the steal figure, several tiny, pink digimon collected. _Those must be the Yokomon. They're cute._ Yolei snapped back as Andromon continued.

"Meramon has performed above his allotted median, and the SkullMeramon does not appear to be computing the data he is receiving. I came to offer him back up, but I do not think he needs it. I am confused as to why this SkullMeramon is not efficient."

"But—SkullMeramon is an Ultimate digimon. We needed SkullGreymon and three Champions when we were fighting one up on Tokyo Tower." Sora's confused expression sparked a curiosity in Yolei.

"Is this digimon actually a control spire?" Yolei asked.

"It could be, why?" One of the Yokomon chirped.

"I wonder if the data in this SkullMeramon could be corrupt, or even flawed." Yolei turned to Andromon. "Izzy told me about how you can process data. Can you read the binary code of him?"

"Processing," the robotic voice replied. Its eyes began to scan the battle scene. A large blast interrupted the scan.

"Meramon!" Birdramon cawed as the Champion fell to the ground.

"I must aid him!" Andromon's scan ceased as it jumped over the charred huts to SkullMeramon's back.

"Lightning blade!" It attacked. The moment the energy struck, a crack appeared in the invading digimon, revealing a black, glossy metal.

"It is a control spire! Do it Andromon!" Aquilamon cheered.

"Lightning blade!" A second strike was all that was needed, and the spire shattered into chips of data.

"Thank you, my friend," Meramon rose with a groan. "I'm sorry, Yokomon, if I harmed the village. I'll see if I can find anyone who can touch the wood to help you rebuild. I think Elecmon is free to help."

"Thanks, Meramon! And no need to apologize, you saved us!" A Yokomon replied. "And we'll fix it up just like last time." The Meramon nodded, then turned to walk back to his volcano.

"He is not a very social guy, is he?" Yolei commented as Birdramon and Aquilamon de-digivolved to their Rookie forms.

"He helped us out against the Dark Masters." Biyomon replied. "But sometimes he does want to be alone." The pink bird looked to Sora. "Oh yeah, and what were we here for again?" Sora smiled.

"To find Andromon, which was easier than I thought it would be."

"To find me? How may I help you, friends," Andromon asked.

"Well, have you heard of the Crest of Faith?" Yolei looked at the digimon.

"Yes, I know of it."

"Know? So it is real?" Yolei perked. "Awesome! Is it under the Myotismon castle like everyone says?"

"No, it cannot be."

"What do you mean 'cannot be'? SaberLeomon told us that is where it was once found." Biyomon was flustered.

"Maybe once, but if it was ever there, it would be gone now. No virus digimon can safely approach it, lest they be defragmented. It is said to run a protective program."

"Like a firewall," Sora mused.

"What makes you seek this crest?" Andromon asked.

"Well, we think Kari's in trouble. Ever since we had to sacrifice our crests, there is no place for her power to be stored." Sora looked at their old ally. "She turned _Alight_ last week during a fight with Arukenimon and the Vilemon, just like when we were fighting Machinedramon and WaruMonzimon."

"Queen Kari was _Alight_ without the Crest of Light? But that does not compute," Andromon said. "And she is the Child of Faith? I thought you were all human."

"What? We ARE human! Kari is human!" Yolei shouted. Sora put a hand on the lavender-haired girl.

"We convert in part to data whenever we come into this world." The red-head looked at the robot digimon. "Gennai told us of a rhyme he once heard. Would you have files on it?"

"I may. If not, I can run a search application at the factory." It replied.

Sora recited the odd poem. Andromon's eyes began the scan again.

"I have a file, but it is an auto-save recovery, so it may not be complete or translatable."

Yolei groaned.

"Well, we need to hear it, Andromon."

* * *

><p><strong>Two things you do not need to worry about:<br>1) There will be no romance between Ken and Kari.  
>2) The ending won't be <span>too<span>far off the series itself.**

_**What could this file Andromon has possible tell them to help find this Crest of Faith and how it can help Kari? Can Whamon explain what being 'Alight' has truly meant for all these years? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters FanFiction!**_

**Oh, and please review! I'm on spring break, so I may be able to crank another chapter out.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I know, I am a terrible person for taking a whole month to get this up. The joys of college and the war on how much money the feds should let me have. On that note- those of us in the 18-25 bracket, be sure to talk with your Reps and Senators on the interest rate of federal college loans, which may be doubled come July. We have a much bigger voice than the one we use.**

Anyway- ::Insert dramatic voice:: _Last time, on Digimon: Crest of Faith- The group had split up to find their vaccine friends to try to learn more of this mysterious Temple of Faith and the prophacy shared by Gennai. Today, Joe and Cody find out what happened to the Temple, and of another voice who can help with their search._

I do not own the rights to anything Digimon

* * *

><p>"- And as you breathe out, push your palms towards the wall. For someone who has never done any martial arts, you have a well-structured form." Ken smiled. "I'm impressed, Kari."<p>

"It's the one thing I take with me after dance." Kari laughed. "I'm sure I could show you some steps." Her grin turned sly. "You know, a man who is good on his feet is said to be great with the ladies. Yolei would be quite impressed."

"Eh—" Ken blushed and turned away. Kari chuckled to herself before returning to the beginner's stance with her hands linked before her chest.

"So, breathe in," she inhaled, "and breathe out," her diaphragm relaxed as she extended her arms. The sly grin did not fade.

"What was Kari talking about?" Minomon quietly asked Gatomon.

"Kari is very good at seeing what's going on around her. She almost has what the humans call a 'sixth sense'." The feline digimon made quotation marks with her claws. "It is mostly because humans have bad memory, and Kari clearly remembered the names of the digimon before they even knew what digimon were, and had no problem with being in the Digital World. It was like she had been there before. Well, that or she knew what to expect from reading the reactions of the others." Gatomon looked at her old friend. "Sometimes I worry if our friends even fit into their world anymore. The more time they spend in ours, the more it seems like they are drifting away from their own."

"This world is even more dangerous than our own." Minomon replied. "And while they are all one type of being, humans can be meaner than some of the meanest digimon I've seen."

* * *

><p>"I like how you thought to bring these, Cody. I would have never thought of that. I normally am in charge of food and first aid. Izzy's always been the techno one. Sometimes I think of you like the cousin who would link our families together." Joe spoke into the hand-held walkie-talkie. It had a 500 foot signal, and could travel under water. He rode Ikkakumon on the water's surface as Cody searched under the seas with Submarimon. "Anyway I'm glad you're underwater, and not I. I still cannot swim, LOL."<p>

"LOL? What do you mean by that Joe?" Cody's voice was confused.

"Isn't that what kids are saying now a days? I thought it meant I found something a little funny."

"Umm—we do not use it when speaking, at least not when I've been speaking to people. It's really used online to pretend you find something funny. If you really find something funny, you would type in LMAO." Cody came through seriously. "Yolei says I'm too young to learn what the "A" means. I think it stands for "Laughing Most Ardently Out-loud". She just doesn't want to admit my vocabulary is better than hers." Joe pursed his lips in speculation.

"I don't think I've heard of that one. Laughing most ardently out-loud—I like that."

"Joe, you really need to read up about these things." Ikkakumon muttered. If he had been in his Gomamon Rookie form, the joke would have been far more expressive.

"Like Cody does? No wonder he's the crest of knowledge." Joe did not speak directly into the walkie-talkie, but Cody heard it none the less. He tried to suppress a sigh.

"_I think Yolei should have gotten that Digi-egg instead of me, and maybe Kari should have been able to add on the crest of love. Reliability is really the only trait from those crests I have. It's odd, because I really don't associate Digmon with knowledge. I wonder what it is about me that let me pick that egg up."_ Cody's mind debated within. It was a thought he had held since they first arrived in DigiWorld. Yolei was the smart one; she knew everything about computers, about mathematics, and about literature. Cody did not feel jealousy towards her, nay, he admired her. He simply had troubles connecting himself to his initial Digi-egg.

The young boy shook his head when he heard Submarimon speak.

"I think Whamon is shortly ahead. My sonar is picking up a large, vaccine digimon."

"_I need to focus on the important thing now—finding a way to save Kari from herself."_ Cody hit the button on the human-world device to inform Joe.

"We think we found Whamon." He said simply. There was no need to go into more detail than needed.

"Awesome!" The voice replied.

"So, Joe-" Cody began. He wanted to shift his mind from his own issues to a story from the older boy. "You never knew how to swim?"

Joe's laugh came through clearly.

"Well—I can swim a bit in pools and still water, but during the battle with Myotismon, TK and I were unable to get into the part of the city all the others were in. We ran into each other by coincidence, or maybe something more than that, and tried to swim slash raft past the bridge. Ikkakumon got into a battle with MegaSeadramon, an Ultimate. TK fell into the water, and Ikkakumon was caught in the fight. I went into the ocean to follow TK, and I was able to get him above the surface and onto a buoyant board." Joe chuckled.

"With everything going on, I began to struggle to stay afloat, and as I was sinking, my crest began to glow, and Ikkakumon could digivolve.

"I was doing what I had promised Mrs. Tachachi I would do; I tried to protect her son. I remember still how we made jokes as we left her ashore. I mentioned how TK should not have been playing with a saw at that age, and he said she shouldn't worry, it just slipped and missed me." While Joe could not show Cody his grin, it was shared into the ocean's depths.

"LMAO," was the reply. The story did not continue past that. Whamon had come into Cody's view.

"Hello Whamon!" Submarimon called.

"Why, hello friends. What brings you down here? If you wanted to fish, I would have happily joined you by the shoreline." Whamon responded in his typical light-hearted manner.

"Whamon? Can we go to the surface? Joe is up there and we really need to ask you a favor." Cody inquired.

"Flavour? Well, my favourite flavor would be plankton, it would be nice to try some Tunamon though—oh, _favour_! Sure thing, friend."

As the trio rose to the surface, Cody fought off an agitation he had been struggling with for quite some time. While the sentiment was what caused him to question his purpose, the manner in which he addressed the question, even internally, was what granted him the Digi-Egg of Knowledge from the start.

"_Maybe now I can finally get the details behind all of this. I cannot help but think TK, Kari, and the others know more than what they want to tell, even if that information could help save Kari's, and maybe everyone's life. Are they afraid of our reactions? Or perhaps they are trying to guard us from the fear they felt every day of their past adventure. I have yet to feel that fear, probably because I assume I will be able to go home regardless of what I did today. It as if the curfew is the main factor, opposed to the quest itself."_

Cody's eyes squinted as they emerged into the sun. Submarimon opened his roof to allow Cody to join with Joe atop Ikkakumon.

"Now my friends, what can I help you with?" Whamon asked in his cheerful, deep voice.

"As a vaccine-type digimon, have you known of the Crest of Faith?" Joe inquired. As usual, he was direct and to the point.

"Do you mean Temple of Faith? Yes, my friends. I do know of it. But I do not know much about it. It is said to be up on land, not down here in my world. Have you talked to Unimon yet?"

"Unimon! We completely forgot about him!" Joe said.

"I wouldn't tell him that if I were you. He's not exactly what you would call social, and is very sensitive." Ikkakukmon inputted.

"The Unimon were the digimon who guarded the Temple of Faith, before it was abandoned."

"Abandoned, why?" Cody asked.

"It was right before Electmon came into power," Whamon began. "The vaccine digimon from all over Server would pay homage to the Temple and its workers. The workers were vaccines, but they were not digimon."

"So—like Gennai?"

"In a sense. However, your Gennai is data. These workers were not. They did not look like you either. They wore blue hooded robes and would never show their faces. Underneath the hoods would glow a dull, blue light." Whamon paused for a moment. "Now remember, I have never seen those workers myself. We had an altar for Faith in the ocean, but it one of the first things Metal Seadramon destroyed."

"What happened to the Temple itself?" Joe questioned, as he tried to get the giant digimon back on topic.

"A large group of viral digimon tried to invade the surroundings. Probably looking for water, you know how Server is. The Unimon fought them off to an extent, but one of the workers was struck. The deletion of the one worker tilted the balance of the Temple off. The remaining workers were unprepared to take on the extra burden, and they each were deleted, one by one.

"The viral digimon thought they had won, but the Temple itself used its last defense. It unleashed a firewall program, one that affects all forms of digimon. No one could get into it, and no one could get out. It was said to suffer a system crash. Its own set-up had been corrupted, and there was no one in the administration programming to defrag or reconfigure it.

"I do not know what those workers actually did," Whamon concluded. "But I know what the altar of Faith did the day of the system failure. The stones, which were normally blue, turned pink."

The group was silent for a moment, as each one processed the information shared. Cody was the first to speak.

"Thank you Whamon," he said simply with a bow. "We will tell the others what you said."

"You are welcome, friends. But may I ask, why are you looking into the Temple of Faith?"

"It's the Crest of Faith we are searching for. We are trying to help Kari. She keeps turning _Alight_." Joe informed the giant digimon.

"'_Alight'_! The poor girl," Whamon sighed. "Then yes, you must find a Unimon. They would be able to explain what the workers did to keep the light in control."

"Keep the Light in control?" Cody asked loudly. "What was it doing?"

"Yes, because there are times when the Light is just as dangerous as the dark."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you guys aren't too disappointed, in neither the wait or the quality of this chapter. It was a crazy month.<br>But hey! At least this time we learned something!  
>I have one more week left, then finals. Yay summer.<br>_Next time, on The Crest of Faith, Matt and TK finally meet up with Centaurumon, the wisest of the vaccines. Can he explain the rhyme? Plus, what have Davis and Tai, and Sora and Yolei, learned from their friends? Find out!_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Yesterday was a very good day(aced two finals!), which allowed me the chance to complete this chapter.  
>Thank you my friends for the reviews! crestoflight3, endlessfun, and Fuyu Aki: you inspired a wonderful happy dance!<br>****  
>For your question: I though the crest Willis was able to use was with the DigiEgg of Destiny. He might be mentioned, but at the moment I don't see him in the story (You never know though, I am trying to think of a way to get Mimi involved).<strong>

**Today we have a bit of action, and a bit of information. But despite that information, I still do no own the names, characters, or have any means of profiting off of Digimon.**

* * *

><p>"He isn't playing soccer, is he?" Kari asked. "Something's happening, and someone is going to be in trouble."<p>

Ken's eyes did not leave the wall. His hands were locked in a pose.

"Tai's in the Digital World, as are a few of the others. They are destroying a few Control Spires today." He responded. It was not a complete lie.

"Why aren't you?" She asked as her hands dropped.

"Because I thought I would stop by to see how you were feeling, and I wanted to talk about the judo." That was mostly true. Ken turned to the girl and smiled. "That was great for a first day. Let's take a break." He gestured to the couches. "We don't want to put too much pressure on your lungs, and even the simplest postures can add stress to them."

Kari nodded and shook out her hands.

"How are you feeling after the poses? And I want all details, which can be important in later progress." Ken asked.

"My back feels pretty nice, and my legs feel fine. It's just my hands keep falling asleep." She smiled. "Maybe they were held above my head for too long. I just need to get the blood flow back to normal."

"That's not common. Normally the stretches help with blood flow." Ken pursed his lips. _"She's been having issues with circulation of he hands all day. Could her health be as simple as constant anemia?" _"Does that happen during dance?" The blue-haired boy asked.

"No, actually it's only been happening to this extent since I went to the hospital. They may have just injected me with something." Kari frowned.

Gatomon bounced up from her catnap. "Though it is odd—normally you bruise for weeks after even a simple flu shot."

"I am happy I'm an exoskeleton." Minomon chirped. "I would hate to have to go through all the things you folks do. My health is easy compared to everyone else's."

Kari regained a soft smile.

"I was told by the others how Gabumon suffered from a cold after he let Matt wear his fur when they were lost on Infinity Mountain." Her face turned wistful. "I wonder what would have happened if I had been able to join everyone from the beginning."

"Well, no use worrying about it now. Right guys?" Gatomon turned to the males.

"Right!" Ken nodded assertively. "I wonder if I could have worked with you eight as well, and what could have happened if Wormmon had digivolved into Ultimate with the Crest of Kindness. But you, yourself, told me not to dwell on the past a mere hours ago." Kari laughed.

"You are right, Ken. I believe we have earned another round of that delicious tea your mother gave me after the bit of exercise." She began to rub her left hand. It was starting to sting. "Allow me to serve this time.

* * *

><p>"She knows something is going on, TK. She just doesn't want to ask; because she's afraid it will hurt our feelings."<p>

Matt, TK, and Patamon sat comfortably atop Garurumon as he progressed with his rolling gait. They had been running throughout File Island, unsure of where Centarumon might be. He did not have a definite location, unlike the other vaccines. The mighty Champion was known to be elusive.

_"Perhaps that's why he was able to stay free from the Dark Masters for so long."_ TK thought of Centarumon. He had yet to respond to Matt. _"What else can we do? I'm getting sick of running around trying to find the answers, fighting off enemies we don't even know we have, and solving one riddle to the next. I just cannot understand exactly what this is for anymore."_

"Hey," Garurumon's deep voice snapped the boys to the moment. "Something is not right, guys."

"I agree," Patamon added. "This is spooky."

"Even the air tastes weird: cold and stale," the giant wolf shared. Matt looked up to the sky. His eyes widened as they no longer saw blue, but an odd grey overcast.

"_But—there aren't any clouds—" _The older boy thought.

"We should turn back." He told the others.

"But—what if Centarumon is out this way? We might miss him!" TK declared. "We should stay on track. He may be the only one who can help us."

"We won't be of any help to her if we get lost or attacked." The brother replied harshly. "Now think for a moment- there are only the two digimon here, so we have to be cautious. If we're heading into corrupt data, we could be in trouble."

"You're sounding like Izzy."

"I'll take that as a compliment. It's better than you sounding like Tai."

TK winced.

"Okay, I get it." The younger brother rubbed at his left hand. "So let's head out of this part. But we will tell the others about it."

"Aww, you mean you two don't like the free ride we would have given you to one of the adjourning worlds? I am crushed." A woman's voice rang out.

"Arukenimon!" The boys shouted. The spider woman was standing against an overhang a few meters up.

"Where are the others? Don't they want to join in this wonderful game?" The humanoid digimon smirked from above. "What a shame."

"Wonderful rhyme, my dear- you should be a poet." Mummymon flocked to his crush's side. "I just know it. Oh- poet, know it! We are truly meant to be together."

"Oh, shut up and get them!" Arukenimon snapped as she plucked a strand of silver hair. "Spirit needle!" The hair flew off to a Control Spire in the north.

"Good luck with that!" TK challenged, tightening both fists in spite of the pain of the left. He turned to his friend. "Ready Patamon?"

"You bet!" The D3 began to glow with its golden light.

"Patamon digivolve to—Angemon!"

"Go get her Garurumon!" Matt encouraged as he and TK hopped onto the ground. "We'll call for back up!"

"Snake Bandage!"

"Howling Blaster!"

The two sides were about to learn that neither the enchanted hair, nor the message, could pass through the encroaching grey mist.

* * *

><p>"What is this Crest of Faith, Piximon? And why have we never heard about it before?" Tai slouched down against the wall to Piximon's home. He had been growing impatient; everyone seemed to share the word, but never the definition.<p>

"_This is getting so frustrating. All I want is to protect my little sister. Is that really such a big deal everyone needs to be 'hush-hush' on what information they can share?"_ Tai thought to himself.

"Well Tai, the Crest of Faith is not like any of the other crests. You see, the other crests were designed to help you humans channel energy that could help the digimon evolve in a very specific manner." Piximon began.

"Oh, like how with armor digivolving, each Digi-Egg causes a different digimon to evolve?" Davis interrupted to ask.

"Precisely, yup yup! The crests were made for the eight children who were needed to defeat Apocolymon. When the crests themselves were hidden by the Dark Masters, only the child who could use the power of the crest was able to unlock it. That is because the data had used the collected data from you eight to make those crests, and nothing can forever separate data.

"That is not to say you children are the only things who have the power of Courage, or of Knowledge, but you are the only ones who can use the power of Courage or Knowledge to support Ultimate digimon.

" Now, the reason why the Crest of Faith was never explained to you was because it has nothing to do with you, that it doesn't. It has been around long before you and your friends were chosen. It may even be around long after the next group of children comes to save our world." Piximon had been eyeing Veemon and Agumon. "You two look like you are slacking! I am always willing to let you train, I am!"

"Wait, but then what is the purpose of this Crest of Faith? It's supposed to be in the fight we need to get ready for!" Davis demanded.

"What fight is this?" Piximon's voice rose.

"You see, Piximon, Gennai told us that Centarumon told him a rhyme that has to do with a person who can turn _Alight. _Faith needs to have a good night. I think that's what it said. Right Davis?" Veemon spoke to his partner. Davis could only groan.

"Not exactly, Vee. It—umm-. Hey Tai, what does it do again?" Davis's hand scratched the back of his head and turned to the older boy.

"_I'm the serious one? This is weird. How did Sora and Izzy handle it?"_ Tai chuckled to himself as he recited the poem.

"What fight was faith in previously, Piximon?" Agumon asked another question. "The poem says it is returning to it."

"Faith is always in a fight, my friends. It always will be."

"That's—not very specific," Tai replied.

"Arg—can't you just explain to us what this all means?" Davis was growing frustrated. "Just tell us the basics: who, what, when, where, and why!"

"The 'who's and 'why's can be the most difficult things to answer, they can. Sometimes, those questions never will be answered."

"Look, you called Kari the "Child of Faith". You even looked shocked, and we know you Piximon. You're never shocked." Agumon spoke up. "Why?"

"A Child of Faith is one of the guardsmen for the Temple where the crest itself is hidden. Unfortunately, that Temple has been gone since before you even knew what the Digital World was. It suffered a terrible RAM crash after constantly defending itself from virus-type digimon." Piximon's tone was desolate. The yearning for the vanished Temple could be heard even by Davis, in spite of knowing the digimon for less than two hours. "It tries constantly to reconfigure itself, but the moment it is ready to turn back on, some force comes to take it out."

"What force took it out last time? Etamon? Or was it the Dark Masters?" Tai hoped the answer would be something to return to the topic of the Crest and how he could find it. But he could not get an answer; the tiny digimon looked distracted suddenly. Tai recognized the expression, it was the one Piximon held when he helped the eight children escape. "What's going on, Piximon?" He could only ask.

"Another phase warp has opened," the Ultimate digimon all but whispered. "We have to help."

"Phase warp? Why does that sound familiar?" Davis pondered.

"Phase warps are when the boundaries between the worlds begin to shift and rupture." Agumon answered.

"Davis, do you remember what happened the summer when Myotismon attacted? A phase warp occurred when digimon could slip through the cracks into our world. The reason for the snow was a Frigimon transitioned over to our campsite. Tidal waves were caused by a Seadramon, and the drought was when a Meramon was sucked through." Tai summarized. "They had the power to affect their environment."

"Okay, so what is this phase warp doing? Is it letting digimon into our world?"

"No—it's locking parts of this world off from itself. We have to get to File Island right away!" Piximon declared.

"File—Island?" Davis looked confused, even more than normally.

"Sora and Yolei are there now! They could be in trouble! Davis, email everyone to check on their status!" Tai turned to the younger boy. "Now!"

"Gotcha Tai!"

* * *

><p>"Why isn't there anything coming to attack these idiots?" Arukenimon exclaimed. "Maybe we need another spike to get the action going." A silver hair was plucked. "Spirit needle!" She shouted. The hair glowed and shot out into the air, only to dissolve suddenly. A purple light waved from the spot the strand hit, sending a mild shock wave through a dome-like barrier.<p>

"What the—?" Mummymon yelled out, partially to himself.

"_I wish people would stop saying that."_ TK moaned mentally. "Are we trapped?" He asked aloud.

"I—don't know," Matt's voice trailed off as his blue eyes searched the sky. The purple light rippled back and forth across the sky. "If I did not know better, I would almost think that thing is an aurora."

Garurumon ran to the edge of the circle and struck it with a paw.

"It's like we are walled inside." His low voice growled.

"We need to get out of here. We cannot face those two alone without a DNA digivolve. They will only be distracted for so long-" As if the shockwave had reached him, TK's thoughts ended with a hiss as he sank to his knees while cradling his left hand.

"TK!" Angemon kneeled next to his partner. "What's happening?" The younger boy did not respond.

"TK?" Garurumon asked , sensing Matt's unease at the silence.

"It feels like I was shot through my palm with an arrow." TK's voice sounded strained in his reply.

"We need to contact Joe!" Matt declared.

"No, let's get out of here first. There's no point talking to Joe if we're being attacked." His vision focused on the two virus-type digimon. "Angemon! Attack this barrier!"

"Right!" Angemon rose. "Hand of Fate!" A golden beam of energy burst forth to strike the purple barrier. The energy tore through the dome-like wall.

"Yes!" TK cheered. However, the barrier was able to reconstruct itself almost instantly.

"What the—?" Matt whispered.

"Not you too," the younger brother moaned.

"TK, not now. How will we get out of this?" He looked over to his digimon, who was dodging around to avoid Mummymon, while Arukenimon was trying to break though the barrier herself.

"I have an idea," Angemon's holy voice echoed. "I'll attack it once more, and we can see if a message can be sent through to the others, giving them our coordinates. If Akylomon can arrive, him and I can power together to break barrier. We may need Paildramon too."

"We don't have a choice, TK!" Matt told his brother. "We're up against two Ultimates, and possibly more if they can break through the barrier!" TK nodded.

"Okay! I'll resend it! Unleash another attack, Angemon!" TK called as he typed quickly.

"Hand of Fate!" The blast once again rocketed through the firewall, causing the temporary opening to reappear.

"And—sent!" TK's eyes rose to the others. "Let's just hope the message went through in time."

* * *

><p><strong>That's that for this chapter. We'll hear a bit from Andromon about what he knows, and have fun with the battle in the next one. I hope I'll be able to write it within the next two weeks.<br>Thank you for reading! We should dance the jive this time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey strangers! Sorry this took over two weeks. So- where did we leave off at? Oh yeah!**

**_Last time on Digimon Adventure 02- Crest of Faith, Matt and TK are trapped in a phase warp against Arukenimon. They were trying to get help, but they had no way to tell if the message got to anyone. Will the others get there in time?_**

**Insert standard disclaimer on not owning anything here.**

* * *

><p>It happened without warning. The three did not know how to react. It was as if the physical form turned into an old television screen that was being plagued by static. Unfortunately, there was no way to readjust the antenna to stop the fading of the person in front of them.<p>

"What the—?" Ken jumped to his feet.

"Kari!" Gatomon called out. "Stay with us!"

"I'm trying—" Kari's voice sounded warped, as if it was an AM radio signal. Her body seemed to fade in and out of reality. She sank to her knees with one hand clutching the other. Her face was clenched with pain. "Why won't they leave me alone?" The question was directed more to her own self than the spectators.

"Tell us what to do!" Ken tried to keep his tone steady. He knew his friend needed him to stay calm. He did not want to scare her any further. "We will do whatever we can to save you." He kneeled next to her to reach for her arm. His hand went right through her. His expression locked into one of shock: eyebrows raised and mouth slightly ajar. His body trembled.

'_Snap out of it Ichijouji. She needs you.' _Ken shook his head briefly to snap himself out of it.

"How can we save you?" He could only ask. Kari did not respond. Ken could not tell if she had even been able to hear him. He turned to the digimon. "How can we save her?"

"I think—we need to take her to the digital world." Minomon replied.

"What? Why?"

"In our world, she may be safe with the firewall. It prevents things from other worlds to get in. It almost looks like she's being hacked."

"That could work!" Gatomon's tone was hopeful. "It will also be easier to follow her if she is being sucked into another world." She turned to her partner. "Kari! Kari? Can you hear me?"

"I—can—sort of—" Kari said. The static was growing stronger. "I can—not fight— an—more."

"Damn it! You cannot give up on yourself yet!" Ken reached once again for her arm. He was able to grasp it. "Get ready guys!" He grabbed his D3 out of his pocket as Gatomon jumped to awaken the computer. "Digiport open!"

The four were sucked in through the light of the gate and taken to a random site in their DigiWorld. The first thing three of them did was turn to Kari.

"Kari! You're here!" Gatomon exclaimed. The girl leaned heavily on Ken's shoulder. She appeared to have little strength in her body. Ken raised his free hand to check her forehead.

"No fever, are you alright?" He asked.

"I just feel weak. That took a lot out of me." She lifted her head to meet his eyes and smile softly. "Thank you for bringing me." She turned to the digivolved Wormmon. "And thank you for having that idea. The voice is gone."

"You would do the same for Ken." Wormmon told her. "Friends will always do what they can."

"Do you think we should meet with the others?" Kari asked.

"Let's tell them we're here, and the why. Then we need to find a spot for you to regain some strength." Ken slid his arm under her shoulders to lift her form. "Can you walk?"

"I'll—try." Kari took a deep breath. The boy shook his head.

"You know what—nevermind." He turned and ducked down. "Climb on." Kari chuckled weakly.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. You guys are starting to act as bad as my brother." Nonetheless, she complied. The group began to walk away from the television.

"I'm texting Tai now. How you humans use these things non-stop I haven't a clue." Gatomon spoke as she messaged the older boy. "I'm telling him we didn't know what else to do, but that you're fine now. I'm also saying we won't be joining them yet." Gatomon glanced at Ken.

'_Do we tell her what's been going on?_' The Champion digimon wondered. Kari looked perplexed about Gatomon's message. Wormmon caught the look and inserted a topic change.

"Kari? How's your hand? I saw you were cradling it earlier."

"It was weird. It felt like I had been stabbed. It also looked to be glowing." Kari replied. Ken's eyes widened.

"White?" He asked, trying to keep his tone subtle.

"No, it was an odd bluish color. Didn't you see it?" She asked him.

"No," was the response. "But we couldn't really see you that well at all. You were fading in and out."

Kari sighed.

"Yes, I know." Ken felt her sigh again. "I wish I could, just once, stand up against them for myself."

"I know. The worst thing for me was always the headache. It is like I'm getting hit in my temples with a Spiking Strike."

"I would never hit you with that, Ken. You know that." Wormmon replied.

"For a group who is confused on what's been going on, we sure seem to know a lot." Gatomon chimed in. "Tai just messaged me back. It says—

"_Well, okay. See if you guys can stay out of trouble. Get her home soon."_" Gatomon snapped the D-terminal shut. "So, what shall our plan be?"

"Let's go sit over there," Ken gestured with his head to a nearby tree. "We'll be out of eyesight. Is that okay with you, Kari?" She did not reply. "Kari?" He asked again, his voice concerned. Gatomon hopped onto the boy's spare shoulder.

"I think she's sleeping," the digimon whispered. "Those fights take a lot out of her."

"Okay, we'll—" A beeping interrupted the conversation as Ken's D-terminal sounded. "We'll see who that is once we get to that tree."

The next five minutes held a comfortable silence. Nothing needed to be said, and there was no need to insert any words. When they reached the tree, Ken carefully set Kari down with Gatomon's help. He then dug into his pocket to read the message.

"It's probably just Tai wanting to know what's going on," Ken concluded to the others. "I'll tell him we're just resting here."

Kari exhaled loudly.

"It's not," she said without opening her eyes.

"Kari, I thought you were asleep." Ken replied as he opened the screen to read any email. "It's from TK. He's probably just checking up on you." His eyes grew nervous when he found out what was going on at File Island.

"He's not." Her voice sounded odd to Ken and Wormmon. It was a low alto opposed to her daily mezzo-soprano. Her eyes slowly opened. They appeared unfocused. "We need to go help him."

"Kari—you know he wouldn't want you to be in danger right now." Gatomon pleaded. Kari turned to look at the digimon. Her amber eyes seemed glossy.

"Yolei and I are the closest to the battle. Cody is currently in the ocean, and Davis is on Server." The girl stood. "We need to go help save Matt and TK."

"How do you know where they are?" Wormmon inquired. She turned to the insect-like digimon to smile softly.

"It's odd. There are times when I can just close my eyes, and if I think of a person, I can see _through_ their eyes." She tilted her head to the sky, inhaled deeply, and then shut her eyes. "Right now, Yolei and Sora are also on File Island, talking with Andromon. Yolei is getting ready to head north, as that is where they think TK and Matt are." Kari opened exhaled as she opened her eyes, only to stretch her neck and close them again. "But—I cannot see through to either of them. Something keeps shutting them off from me. It's like they are not in the Digital World."

"So, you could not reach people if they were in a different world?" Ken asked. Kari nodded.

"That's right. I can only have a vague – sense about the events."

"You knew all along everyone was coming to the DigiWorld today? From the moment I arrived at your house?"

"Not initially, but I assumed it after a short while." Kari grinned "Especially when I saw Tai's soccer bag was in the corner of the living room after he left." The group laughed.

"Enough laughing, it's time to get serious. Do we help the others now or not?" Gatomon demanded. She looked directly at Kari. "Are you up for it? I need you to be honest; if you feel even slightly weak still from being sick, tell me."

"I am fine, Gatomon." Her expression was solemn as she turned to Ken. "Shall we?"

"Let's go." He held out his D3 as it unleashed its power.

"Wormmon digivolve to—Stingmon!"

"Digi-Armor energize!" Kari called out.

"Gatomon armor digivolve to—Nerfertimon! The Angel of Light!"

Both Ken and Kari mounted atop Nerfertimon.

"They should be just to the west of us. Let's go save the day!"

* * *

><p>"What's Kari doing in the DigiWorld? Why didn't Ken keep her home?" Davis yelled. It was hard to hear while soaring through Piximon's vacuum-like method of transportation. The group had just heard Tai read aloud a message Gatomon sent. "It's way too dangerous right now. What if she is the one about to be attacked?"<p>

"Gatomon said Kari looked to be fading into the Dark Ocean's world again, and they brought her here to try to escape for a short while. She's safe and Ken says they aren't by any of the Control Spires." Tai replied. Tai's messenger sounded again. "Hold on, I'm getting a message from TK." His eyes scanned the device. "Oh no! TK and Matt are in a battle with Arukenimon! That must be the phase warp you told us about Piximon!"

"We are almost there, yup yup! This air current moves at the speed of sound!" Piximon chirped. "I can sense the dark force. We'll be another minute." As the tiny Ultimate declared, an ominous dome appeared in the horizon. "And look! It appears two others are approaching from the western sky!"

"That must be Yolei and Sora!" Davis exclaimed. "They must have gotten the message too! I bet Cody and his group are on the way as well! We'll have a DNA digimon. That should at least chase her off."

"How are we going to get in though?" Agumon asked. "That wall must be where the phase warp is trying to take place."

"I can crash into it. The shock might be enough to weaken it. When you have the dark energy of these warps, the best bet is to use holy energy. Light can easily over-power the dark!" Piximon turned to the four. "I'll have to chuck you guys out. Brace yourselves." Two of the four knew exactly what to expect and plopped to the floor of the air rocket. The other two remained standing and locked knees. As if a trap door opened, the four were released to encounter the battle between inertia and gravity.

"Gahh!" Veemon shouted as he hit the ground on in a comical fashion.

"I've lost count of how many times I've hurt my head. If this keeps up I'll have brain damage." Davis muttered.

"No time for jokes guys!" Agumon called. Tai and he were already standing. "We have to be ready to bash through." The dinosaur digimon looked up to Tai. "There aren't any active spires. We can digivolve to Champions here! Let's go Veemon!"

"Gotcha! Veemon digivolve to—ExVeemon!" The giant blue digimon emerged.

"Agumon digivolve to—Greymon!"

"Alright! Now, let's break that barrier!" Piximon cried. "Pit bomb!" He fired at the purple wall, his attack boosted by the velocity of his travel. A crack appeared.

"Nova blast!" Greymon aimed at the same place.

"Vee-Laser!" ExVeemon followed suit. The crack deepened, but would not rupture. "We need some more energy to get through!"

"I'll try!" Birdramon's voice called from above. "Meteor wing!"

"Don't forget about me! Blast rings!" Aquilamon shouted. Both attacks struck the wall, yet it still did not open.

"We need stronger energy to break it open!" Sora proclaimed. "Wait! Can you guys see through the wall?"

"I can see shadows. That must be Matt and TK!" Tai shouted back.

"And Arukenimon! We have to try to get through!" ExVeemon looked up at the aerial digimon. "All together now!" The four unleashed a round of attacks. The crack did not even expand.

"Ah—damn it!" Davis kicked at a stone. "How are we going to help them if we can't get through?"

"I'm messaging TK now—but I cannot seem to get through the barrier. How did he get the alert to us?"

"He must have found a way to make a temporary hole in the phase warp. If Angemon is in there, his power may have been enough to break through. Unfortunately, the warp can fix itself." Piximon informed the others

"What?" Tai shouted.

"Look to see for yourself." Piximon gestured to the spot where all five struck the dome. The crack had begun to glow an eerie purple and was slowly fusing together. "Whatever is the cause of this wall is very strong indeed."

"Allow me!" Andromon joined in.

"Andromon! Can you break through?"

"I can try. Lightning blade!" It blasted at the wall. This time, the crack deepened.

"Alright! Give it another one!" Davis cheered.

"Lightning blade!" The crack widened slightly.

"At this rate, it may take too long to get through to help our friends." Yolei looked down at the two vaccine digimon. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I am not sure—" Andromon responded.

"Can we help out?" Another pair appeared.

"It's Cody and Joe!" Tai turned. "Hey guys! You are just in time."

"I don't know Tai. If two Ultimates cannot break through, how can we help?" Cody asked; his tone despondent.

"We can't just give up!" Ankylomon.

"That's right! We need to all give it one more shot!" Ikkakumon called to the others. "Harpoon torpedo!"

"Tail hammer!"

"Meteor wing!"

"Blast rings!"

"Vee-laser!"

"Nova blast!"

"Pit bomb!"

"Lightning blade!"

All eight digimon unleashed their attacks with the maximum amount of strength they could muster. The wall began to crumble.

"Grah! We are so close! What more do we have to do? Use napalm?" Yolei shouted.

"You know, nondairy creamer makes an excellent explosive." Joe chimed.

"Unless you have some CoffeeMate on you, that won't help right now," Sora called down.

"What should I do, Sora?" Birdramon asked.

"Let's get down to the others. We need to make a plan."

"Right!" Yolei and Aquilamon followed the Birdramon to the ground.

"Okay, what else can we do?"Greymon asked of Piximon. The tiny digimon looked from human to human.

"We need the Child of Faith." He announced.

Tai clenched his fists.

"No!" The boy shook his head with fury. "We can't put her in danger. Someone, or something, is after her! If we let that—thing—take her; she may be gone forever! I don't care if she does have some kind of mystical power! She's still my sister!"

"Tai," Cody began. "I know you are worried. We all are. But you need to trust Kari can hold her own."

"I agree with you in a sense." Davis grabbed hold of his icon's arm. "We should try one more time before we call Ken and Kari. Then once Stingmon gets here, Paildramon should be able to break that barrier down. We'll know Kari's safe then too."

"I guess you guys are right." Tai muttered. His eyes locked on the crack that was once again trying to heal. "Paildramon and Slyphmon may be what we need to save the guys trapped inside. I just hope they get here soon."

"Is this soon enough?" Nerfertimon landed a few paces away. Kari, Ken, and Wormmon were seated atop the armor digimon.

"Wow, talk about convenient," Yolei mumbled. _'Sometimes I think everything is plotted out like this just to stress us out.'_ Her inner voice complained. She watched the trio slide off to their feet. She noticed Kari leaned heavily on Ken's shoulder. _'She looks so weak still.'_

"Kari!" Tai and Davis rushed to her. The girl raised her eyes to the two boys.

"I'm sorry, guys. I had to come." She sounded almost ashamed.

"Kari, we had to," Ken comforted her.

'_Oh no! Don't tell me Ken likes her too! I'll never beat him!' _Davis thought, regardless of the situation at hand. He shook his head to get back on track, then turned to Wormmon.

"Wormmon!" ExVeemon interrupted. "Are you ready?"

"Wormmon digivolve to—Stingmon!" The newest member of the troop sprung into his Champion form. "I'm ready when you are!"

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, that was a long one!<strong>

**So, what do you think? Reviews make me happy! We can do the paso! (Tangent: any DWTS fans? Wasn't this season great? I'm sad it's over.)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow, look what happens on a beautiful day on the beach. An even longer chapter twenty-four hours after the previous. Man, if only I could write my original fiction at this pace. Dystopia anyone?  
>Thank you to those who are still review this still! Crestoflight3 (I love your enthusiasm), Valechan92 (This end might be unsatisfactory, too, but anymore confrontations and this chapter may be confusing), and pokemon fan 1991(Yay!). And a thank you to fresh imput- The Sushi Monster! (Thank's for the honesty. I have trouble with balancing the action with the imagery, especially when there are so many characters in the action).<strong>

**Well, I hope this chapter pleases everyone! If not, I like the constructive criticism almost as much as the compliment-containing convos (Yay alliteration!)**

**Insert the disclaimer of you choice here.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"ExVeemon—"<p>

"Stingmon—"

"DNA-digivolve to—Paildramon!"

Eyes watched the DNA-digivolution above, with one exception. Ken subtly turned from one being to another while processing the events leading up to the present.

'_They all look so tired. If I had come with them from the start, this might have been over already.' _The boy genius shook his head slightly to remove any sensation of guilt_. 'No, if you had not stayed with Kari, we might have lost her. Now is not the time to doubt.'_ He looked directly at Kari. Her breathing had grown tense. A hand reached to her arm to silently ask a question. Kari eyed him, unsure of how to answer.

"Desperado blaster!" Both teenagers shifted focus to the new round of assault on the impenetrable wall as each digimon attempted his or her most powerful attack.

"I think it's working this time!" Davis cheered. Kari turned her attention to him.

"I'm glad we joined, then." Her face had paled as she remained leaning on Ken's arm.

"Are you okay, Kari? Do you need to sit down?" Davis shouted to be heard over the explosions against the wall. Ken reached to touch her forehead.

"Her fever's coming back!" He hollered at the others. Tai and Joe ran to the pair. Joe took command, a trait he rarely displayed. He, too, touched her forehead, and then shifted his hand to take her pulse.

"The fight against the Dark Ocean must have taken a lot out of her." Joe decided.

"You two should have stayed home!" Tai snapped at Ken. "We knew this could be dangerous!" Kari inhaled deeply, intent on redirecting her brother's anger as Nefertimon returned to her Champion stage.

"Look Tai," she hissed as Gatomon, "she wants to help. She is sick of being left out of everything. You leave her at home for one afternoon, and next thing we know is her best friend is in danger! What do you expect? Kari may be your little sister, but she is also your equal here." Gatomon turned to Aquilamon. "It's time we joined in."

"Agreed," he replied.

"Aquilamon—"

"Gatomon—"

"DNA digivolve to—Silphymon!"

"Alright Silphymon! Time to show whomever is behind all this how tough we are!" Yolei jumped up with a fist pump into the air. The quick boost in both self-esteem and optimism distracted her for the moment.

"Now all we need is to get through, and whatever is in there will have to face all three digimon," Cody said, primarily to himself. He, too, needed to improve his demeanor for a moment. _'I just want this day to be over. TK, Matt—please be okay.' _He walked over to Kari and the others. _'Kari—please be okay.'_ He ripped off his sleeve as he had the last time. "Here you go, Joe." Joe looked over to Cody, initially confused. The oldest of the group focused on the cloth, and responded with a grateful grin.

"Good idea, Cody." He thanked.

"Thank TK when we get to him. He suggested this last time."

"I'm sure we'll get to them soon. Look at that wall. It's almost destroyed!" Tai comforted the youngest, confidence emerging in his tone. As Tai said, the crack in the barrier was getting deeper and deeper. Sora did not feel the assurance the unofficial leader offered. She had a sense of dread as she watched the gradual destruction. Each blast echoed; the sky was being to cloud with dust. The shadows of unknown digimon began to show through the thinning purple wall

'_If there is a battle going on as extreme as we think it is, our digimon may not have enough energy to help out. I guess all I can do now is hope.'_ Sora walked to join the others. Kari was still standing, her eyes closed while she took deep breaths.

"Maybe you should lie down," Joe suggested to the youngest girl. Her eyes opened, but she did not verbally respond. The mahogany eyes appeared dim and unfocused. She did not direct her sight to anyone, nor anything, as if she was ambivalent to the chaos spreading around them.

Andromon had ignited another Lightning Blade when Kari's eyes snapped into the surroundings.

"Everyone!" She called out, her voice once again in the low alto which sent shivers down Ken's spine. "Get down!"

The barricade had finally relented, but the force reflected off of the walls and a shockwave, knocking the digimon and children.

"Sora!" Birdramon exclaimed as she dove above the children to shield them with her giant wings.

"Gahh She cawed as she de-digivolved back into Biyomon.

"Biyomon!" Sora cried as she caught the Rookie bird. "Biyo, are you okay?"

"Oww—man that almost hurt like DemiDevimon's dart." Biyomon replied. Sora laughed and hugged her partner.

"The gate is open. We can save the others." Kari's voice sounded hollow. She stood and began to walk to the opening. The group turned to study the destruction, they were still in dismay from the blast. There was a dark, purple fog rolling out of the dome, followed by a bright flash of light. Somehow, Kari was neither affected by the flash nor the fog.

"That must be Angemon! I recognize his attacks!" Ankylomon shouted. "Come on guys!"

"Right behind you!" Siyphymon followed. "Wait up Kari!"

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Paildramon called as he dove behind the two.

"What's your hurry? Come on everyone," Greymon, Ikkakumon, Andromon, and Piximon marched behind.

"Are you sure you guys are up to it?" Joe looked up to his partner. "You all used up so much energy."

"Don't worry about me Joe," Ikkakumon replied. "I'm all ready to take whoever and whatever out. Just like old times!"

"Right! We can still hold our own!" Greymon roared out. Tai grinned up at the two.

"We never doubted you guys." Tai waved to the upcoming battle. "Come on!"

* * *

><p>The green field was a distant memory, as if the sun had been blocked from the ground for years. The grass was brown and stiff; the air was stale and motionless while holding a faint, dust-like odor. The sky itself held no color, yet not a single cloud could be seen from horizon to horizon. A bruised purple slowly began to ripple out of existence, similar to the tides creeping away once the moon had set.<p>

"My love, this is getting weird, even for me." Mummymon pleaded with the digimon he longed for, but would never respond to his calling. "How about we head back and think of a new plan."

"Nonsense," the spider-like female snapped back. "Look at these fools. We're about to destroy them for good, and you want to turn around and run? Moron."

"No matter what powers we have, even digimon at our level could not fight, well, _him._ If he shows up, that is."

"Oh fine, just hurry up already."

Arukenimon stared at the two Champion digimon as they struggled to rise up. _'This phase warp seems to be draining their powers. The darkness must be leaking through.'_ She laughed as she turned her attention to the human boys. _'What fools.'_

TK was still on his knees, his face mangled as wave upon wave of pain shot through his left palm. He had been able to ignore it during the adrenaline rush, but the ache had captured all attention. It might have just been his eyes shifting in and out of focus, but he would have sworn he saw a faint blue light outlining the main nerves.

"TK! Stay with me bro!" Matt crouched next to his younger brother and grasped the other boy's shoulders. "Whatever is happening, we can fight this!"

"Something is about to happen. I don't know what, but I think we are in a lot of trouble," TK groaned out.

"Everyone, look at the sky!" Angemon's holy voice rang. The purple aurora began to fade rapidly. "I think the others made it!"

"Good, we need all the help we can get," Garurumon rose to sniff the air, "as there is something else on the way from the other side of the valley."

"Ah, good indeed," Arukenimon grinned. "I was waiting for my new friend to show up. I guess that phase warp worked against me as well. I hope all of your friends are up for this challenge." She turned. "Farewell Digidestined, I hope you enjoy the afterlife." The Virus digimon jumped into her car to follow the fading wall.

"My precious, wait for me!" Mummymon called, jumping from the former battle ground to follow Arukenimon.

"Great," Matt moaned. "Now what?"

"Now we fight, just like earlier." Angemon hovered above the ground. "Cody shall be here shortly, and no matter the level of this pseudo-digimon, Ankylomon and I will be able to fight it head on!"

"I'll do what I can to help, Angemon. I don't know how much I have left in me, but I will give it my all." The wolf-like digimon told his friend. Angemon nodded, and then turned to the boys.

"Are you two alright?" He inquired.

"I'm fine, but TK," Matt began.

"I'm fine." TK stood up while shaking his hand. "The pain has stopped." He stared at the palm which had tormented him. "I cannot imagine what caused that. I wonder if it could be like that seed planted in Ken's neck. But how did it get in there? I mean, my hand has felt odd for a few days now, but I just thought I had been straining it with all this activity going on. Now," TK lowered his arm while clenching both fists. "Now I just do not know."

"Not to interrupt, but both of you need to get down!" Garurumon shouted. "Someone's coming, and whomever it is, it is not a friend."

"Sure thing Garurumon," Matt called back. "Just be careful!"

"That goes to you too, Angemon." TK added.

"Right," the angel responded. A large, dragon-like figure was flying in from above the remaining purple dome. A bright light shine on both sides.

"Dark Side Attack!" It hollered. Several missiles plummeted to the ground.

"Is that—Megadramon?" TK's eyes widened.

"Megadramon? Why does that name sound familiar?" Matt looked to his brother. TK turned to meet their eyes.

"Megadramon was one of Machinedramon's flunkies. He and a Gigamon destroyed the city Tai, the others, and I had sought refuge in shortly after we all split up. We were lucky to escape, even though it resulted in our own separation as we searched the sewers for a way out." He then looked away. "That's also when Kari first turned _Alight_." TK's head snapped back to Matt's. "Could Arukenimon have planned this somehow? This cannot be a coincidence!"

"Woah, breathe." Matt held up a hand. "I doubt Arukenimon was even around when the Dark Masters were in power, and TK paused Matt.

"Duck!" He cried as another round of missiles flew across the sky.

"Angel Rod!" Angemon deflected the attack.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon shouted his energy to destroy the remaining missles. Megadramon soared down to strike Garurumon directly on the back, followed with a flick of the tail to send the Champion wolf digimon into the air.

"Dark Side Attack!" He repeated. This time, a missile struck. Garurumon fell as a light embraced him, only to flee to Matt's digivice. By the time he had reached the ground next to the humans, he had returned to Gabumon.

"Gabumon!" The three cried. Megadramon wasted no time; he charged to the remaining Champion digimon.

"Ultimate Slicer!"

'_I wish I knew why Angemon is no longer as strong as he once was. He was able to take on Myotismon, WaruMonzimon, and even Piedmon. It may not be to the same extent Gatomon was weakened, but so little of these past months have seemed right.' _TK's eyes remained locked on the battle. His eyebrows jumped when Angemon took a blow under his chin. The Champion digimon flew several meters backwards before shaking the strike off to charge his foe once again.

"He's so weak from fighting with Mummymon. What can we do?" TK looked at his D-Terminal. "No one has gotten back to me yet. I need to resend that message." He began to type furiously.

"_Guys, we need your help. An Ultimate is fighting with Angemon, and he's running out of strength! Hurry to the valley before Infinity Mountain. You'll see a fading aurora-like light directly above us."_

"And sent," TK shut his D-terminal with an assertive snap. "I hope they're close."

"Have a little faith. They'll be here." Matt tried to assure him.

'_Faith _ran through the younger brother's mind. _'I'm starting to run out of this faith.' _He swallowed nervously. _'No. I need to find this faith. It may be the only way to save us all in the end.'_

Angemon had barely been able to dodge, but initiated his strongest attack.

"Hand of Fate!" The beam inflicted the Control Spire digimon directly in the chest, knocking him high into the air.

"Do it Angemon!" Matt encouraged.

"Angel Rod!" The attack crashed into Megadramon's guarded skull. A small implant surfaced, revealing a shiny, black surface; hence proving it was several fused Control Spires, and not a genuine digimon.

"Yes! Go Angemon!" TK called. Gabumon had opened his eyes. He shook his head as if to wake up from a long sleep.

"I must have hit my head on the fall." He spoke. Matt reached to take his digimon's paw.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm starting to feel rejuvenated." He proclaimed. The digimon looked above. "I need to try to help Angemon."

"But—you were just hit. You guys cannot recover that quickly!" Matt's voice was confused.

"Especially without eating," TK added. Gabumon shook his head again.

"Yes, I know. Yet somehow I can feel the energy returning to me. I may be channeling the life force as it returns to these plains."

"Here comes another one!" Angemon's alert halted the debate. Megadramon fired another missile to the three, and Angemon would not be able to get there in time.

"Oh no! Get ready guys! This could be a bad one!" TK shouted while covering his head. Matt and Gabumon mimicked him.

"Pit bomb!" An attack cancelled out the Dark Side Attack.

"I know that technique!"Matt raised his head. "Hey guys!" He waved to the group as seven digivolved digimon stormed in. "Talk about an overkill. When did everyone arrive here?"

"Piximon sensed the trouble here, and we also caught your first message." Davis chimed. "We're all ready to get this guy! Davis is here to save the day!"

"Hey! You can't always be the hero!" Yolei shouted at the boy. "Give one of us a turn!"

Despite the stressful environment, TK could not help but chuckle. His eyes went from digimon to digimon, person to person. All of the humor vanished when he focused on Kari.

"What are you doing here?" Ignoring the battle, he jumped back to his feat to head to the girl. "Are you sure you're okay?" TK reached halfway to her, when a harsh voice yelled once again.

"Ultimate Slicer!"

"Watch out!" Tai screamed in panic. The blast headed straight at the young blond. He turned, but his reaction time was no match for the oncoming assault.

"TK!" Kari cried in her regular pitch. Without thinking, she lunged forward to her best friend. Suddenly, neither could be seen through the smoke from the attack as it clouded the area.

"Kari! No!" Sora exclaimed.

"Kari—TK," Yolei could only whisper with grief. She collapsed to the soil.

"Oh no, are they-?" Cody could not bear to finish the question.

"I think Tai had the same struggle with the answer. All the group could do was to stare as the smoke began to clear. Even Angemon could not move, the result being a strike in the ribs.

"Enough of this!" Paildramon shouted. "Desperado Blaster!" The DNA digimon's aim was flawless; it struck Megadramon square in the chest.

"Static Force!" Silphymon finished with its most powerful attack, the ball of energy colliding with the faux digimon's head. The guise shattered into bits of data, and the Control Spire burst, signaling the end of the battle. Exhausted from the fighting, both Paildramon and Silphymon separated to shrink, with the exception of Gatomon de-digivolving to Salomon, into Baby forms. Davis, Ken, and Yolei rushed to them as Tai and Matt charged to the clearing smoke. They saw an outline, which Tai interpreted as a sign the two might be well.

"Kari?"

"TK! Are you okay?" Both boys skimmed to a halt as their younger siblings came into view.

"Oh no-" Tai whispered. "Please, not again." He swallowed to ease the lump in his throat. Joe approached slowly with his first aid kit in hand.

"Kari—you're _Alight_."

The young girl glowed with a soft white light. Her arms were wrapped around the blond boy, their left hands grasping together in a silent prayer. His hand shimmered with a faint glow, a glow that darkened from a pale gold to a dark blue as the girl's light brightened. Both had their eyes closed and their bodies tense, as if they were braced for the impact.

The sound of Joe's voice encouraged Kari to slowly open her eyes. They held little color to counter the light pulsing across her body. The eyes were once again clouded. When she spoke, the voice was low, a tone to which Ken had become far too accustomed.

"Yes, I am." An empty echo sounded. "You need not concern yourself with me, but your friend here may need aid." The girl gestured to TK, whose jacket was torn and a bruise was already surfacing. "He wanted to protect this form, just as she strived to protect him. I can sense they would do the same for any one of you. You should feel very fortunate."

"Kari—is this you or someone else?" Yolei's voice stammered with the question.

"It is, but at the same time it is not," was the reply.

"No!" Tai shouted out. "I am sick of this! No more freaking riddles! First Gennai, then Piximon, and now you—whatever you are! That's my sister you're playing with. Why can't you let her go?"

Andromon had approached silently, its machine not making a single sound.

"Queen Kari," it sank to its knees, "the Child of Faith?"

"The Child of Faith," Piximon breathed.

"Listen, there is not much time. I must take this girl." The figure spoke.

"No!" Salamon snapped. "You are not taking Kari away from us."

A gentle smile graced the face.

"Salamon," the voice spoke. "You need not worry. In one's life, destiny will not be reached if the soul avoids the path he or she must take. This is the path your friend has been chosen to follow." The form of Kari turned to Tai. "When you sought your destiny, did you not face your fear? Is that not what courage is?"

"Well-" Tai stammered. "This is different!"

"Why can't you just go away and leave us all alone?" Davis demanded. Kari's unfocused eyes tightened.

"Look," the voice hardened. "The longer we wait, the greater the danger is for all of you. Another force of darkness is about to encroach us." A hand stretched to point to the sky. Waves of purple light were beginning to flow back over the valley, yet this time they pushed dark clouds ahead. "The darkest of waters is coming."

"'Which will awash those _Alight—_" Ken whispered. The group's vision snapped from Kari to Ken as the second line to the opening couplet of the rhyme flooded their minds.

_'And are trapped in the tides frozen of fright'._

* * *

><p><strong>::Meek grin Sorry if the ending is mean, but it would be easier to explain some stuff with a new scene, one with less dialogue.<strong>

**I'm up for the quickstep, maybe to a Queen song. Sound good, endlessfun? "I was just a skinny lad/never knew no good from bad-**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you everyone!  
>pokemon fan 1991- I laughed when I saw all the reviews. It made my night.<br>Crestoflight- Thanks, it's hard to be completely omnisciant when writing. If it wasn't for wanting to stick with the way the amine worked, I would probably separate and limit POV more, maybe even to one person per scene.  
>endlessfun- Well, here it is. "Hey big woman! You made a bad boy outta me!"<br>TheAmazingOREOman- Thank you! And welcome to the story! I hope you like this chapter too.  
>The Sushi Monster- You made a great point on the when this is occuring, it influenced how I set up the explaination in this chapter. This would be taking place right after the crew meets Azulongmon, but before Christmas. It's one of my pet peeves of DA02. It went from the start of the start of a school term, through summer, and then into winter in approximately 30 episodes, while the first season ended up being maybe two weeks.<br>What part of TK's arm was confusing? If it was the pain in his hand, there will be a reason for that soon. If it was about the injury, that'll be covered in here. Basically, he was not completely shielded from the blast.**

**Okay, now on to the next A/N. When rereading Chapter 13, there were a few things which I was not liking, mainly just how the data that possessed Kari spoke. Also, for some reason the published version did not show the hyphen and closing exclaimation points ( —" ), which is how I prefer to express a pause or an incomplete sentence when a character is speaking. So some of the dialogue doesn't show where it ends. I'll be fixing the things up tomorrow, but the dialogue corrections shouldn't change the general idea.**

**Enough of my babbling. I hope you like this chapter too! And that the people who own Digimon do not unleash a statement against fanfiction!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>It had begun.<p>

In the middle of nowhere, on the continent of Server, a blue light started to pulsate as mourning winds arrived to clear sand off of a stone tablet. A healing glow caressed the broken pillars, as data chip by data chip they grew into the marble glory held once before. Trees began to blossom, a buried ravine cleared and filtered itself to aid in the reawakening of dehydrated plants. The light, coming from a blue crescent moon carved into the stone, grew brighter as the wind calmed into song with the last of the sand evacuating the temple. Its song echoed its way from horizon to horizon to awaken the altars built for the temple's memory, skipping across the Digital World to ignite the blue runes carved to honor the once again sacred Temple of Faith.

Out of all of the sacred tomes, a few had been tainted with such evil the blue light feared to approach. One had been misused to penetrate into a world where data was tainted and could not be reconfigured safely, while one was defiled by incidental acts from a program corrupted by a dark seed. Several altars, which were used by others to enhance a firewall, had simply been destroyed within the past week, and had not the proper time to restore any back-up data. The blue light kept going until it could find another circuit to redirect, merging like an electric charge into a powerful force. The energy needed not only to find the circuit, but one that could be protected from a surge of great magnitude. The Temple could not withstand another failure. The tomes would need to be repaired, lest they continued to be used as the gateways of eternal night.

* * *

><p>"Which will awash those <em>Alight—"<em> Ken whispered.

"You are correct," the voice that was not Kari's own replied. It was not the low pitch, but the apathy the voice projected with a sourceless echo that signalled Kari was not the one truely speaking. The voice continued. "There is tainted data overflowing this world, and it will continue to seep through at the phase warps until the firewall can be reconstructed. The motherboard for this was destroyed after Spiral Mountain was completed, and until now there has been no one who can fix it."

"Let us help then," Cody spoke up, eliciting a shock as the normally quiet boy stepped to the front. "We all know what is going to happen. And as you said earlier, Kari would do the same for any of us." The boy swallowed nervously. "Besides, if Kari is the only chance you, whoever you are, have; you need to be careful about what happens to her."

Davis jumped into the discussion.

"We need her too! What good is fixing your program if the DigiWorld is destroyed?" Davis asked.

"Why should we even trust you?" Tai asked. "You sound like you just want to use Kari's power for yourself? Piximon told us about the Children of Faith, and from the way you've been talking, I'm not putting any faith in you."

"Nice one," Sora murmured. Tai looked her way to flash a quick smile.

"I am not the Child of Faith." The voice said.

"What?" Piximon demanded. His expression was a mixture of shock and disappointment.

"No, but Kari is still the Child."

A confused aura settled throughout the group, neither the humans nor digimon knew exactly what was going on. Sora was the first to speak up once a memory stirred.

"Wait! Are you that data that took over Kari's body back when WarGreymon and Metal Garurumon were fighting? The one that showed us how we were chosen and what we were supposed to do?" She inquired.

The figure nodded.

"Yes."

"That voice was creepy back then too," Gomamon whispered to Joe. Joe could not help but to agree. His eyebrows arched as a thought came to him.

"So, if you have nothing to do with Kari being a Child of Faith, what is making her be one? And why are coming to talk to us after all this time?"

"The Children of Faith are the non-digital beings who still hold digital powers."

"But don't we all hold some type of power?" Cody questioned.

"Yes, but how can you access that power? You needed equipment, something to aid you in reaching that power. It is why the four of you," Kari's head tilted towards Veemon, Hawkmon, Amadillomon, and Wormmon, "cannot reach the Ultimate level, and why you could not initially digivolve into Champion. The digivices you found were not programmed for you."

"That's right! You told us how even our digimon had been selected for us original kids before we even first came here!" Sora exclaimed.

"Yeah, and the crests were designed to meet the traits we had which held the most power." Matt added. His eyes narrowed. "I still don't get how I ended up with my crest."

The data within Kari smiled softly.

"We choose Friendship for you because you have the ability that only true friends can share. You can be honest about how you feel, you can share the truth regarding a friend's actions, and you openly challenge the people close to you to do better. That granted you the power to channel the friendship not only you yourself felt; you channeled the friendship of others as well.

"Truthfully, yours was the hardest to assign," the voice chuckled, and the echo surprised the children. "You were about to receive the crest of Honesty, but the way you comforted TK during your parents' divorce showed the friendship you reached with others."

'_This woman—or thing, is starting to creep me out. If she knows that much about Matt, who is not the most social, how much does she know about me?'_ Davis questioned himself.

'_So much information, even more than what Azulongmon shared the other day. I can barely keep up,' _went through Cody's mind.

'_I wish Izzy was here. He would be able to simplify all of this.' _Yolei thought. The other five held similar thoughts.

"Wait—" Yolei began aloud. "How does Ken have a crest, but Wormmon cannot digivolve on his own?"

The voice sighed.

"First, the tag is what will first grant access to the power, like the Digi-eggs for the armor digivolving. Second, the power will only emerge once the holder can recognize it within himself. Like when Joe put TK's safety before his own during the battle with MegaSeadramon. You knew TK's mother relied on you to look after him, as you promised her you would. You confirmed it to yourself out-loud, showing you acknowledged the trait behind your power.

"But enough of this, I no longer have the time. I came to assign a new mission; one Azulongmon hinted at but was forbidden to say. The seeds of light which form the Destiny Stones are easily tainted by the dark forces, and the Children of Faith are required to protect them until they sprout. If they are infiltrated with darkness, they can open phase warps that can lock digimon inside, and when one is fully corrupted, can even infiltrate your world. These seeds were managed by various altars; most were destroyed, however, both by the forms of darkness and the unawareness of yourselves. As the Temple can only locate one of its children, Kari's light is being used to help fuel the power of Faith."

"You mean the reason all this is happening to Kari is you guys never told us what we needed to do?" Salamon yelled.

Tai could feel his face scowl. _'I do not know if I can take this anymore—I just cannot see how we are helping, if our actions are causing Kari to wither away.'_ He bit harshly on the inside of his lip to change his pain from mental and emotional to physical. It was all he could do at the moment.

"It is her destiny." The voice repeated

TK, who was still on the ground next to Kari, began to groan as he regained awareness. He heard bits and pieces of the conversations, but his focus was on the pain of his right shoulder and the returning throb in his left hand.

"Before I leave, I will challenge you to a task. If you want to be of aid to the last Child of Faith, you must do two things. First, you must bring the Vaccine digimon back to their Temple. Then, you need to figure out the prime weakness of your team, and confront it. It can be turned into the most precious of strengths. If you cannot fight this weakness, you may be trapped in this darkness." A hand rose to the sky. "This very darkness that can be defeated by one thing."

"You mean the light?" Yolei asked. Kari's head shook.

"Light and darkness will always be at equilibrium with each other, unless the light can find its shield."

"Why does all this sound familiar?" Tokomon wondered aloud.

The data ignored him.

"I may need this body after this quest is complete. Take care of it for me."

"We'll take care of it for Kari! Not you!" TK stated. His throat was strained, his figure weak, but his eyes burned with an anger only a few his teammates could recognize.

The data nodded once again.

'_This thing needs a new gesture.' _Davis decided

"I understand. Good-bye, Chosen Children. Good luck." Kari's eyes once again shut, this time tightly as her jaw locked as a reaction to a sudden pain. She sank to her knees, only to be caught by her brother; who had rushed to her side the moment her body was freed.

"Kari? Are you okay?" He asked nervously. His sister, who was still _Alight_, opened her eyes to turn to him. Her smile was wan as her eyes focused for the first time in hours.

"I'll be well shortly. This just takes so much out of me." She responded. Her voice was still lower than its normal pitch, but had lost the hollow echo of the data. Her mind jumped to the other child who sat weakly on the ground.

"TK! How are you?" Kari insisted. TK smiled his trademark half grin.

"Well, I have been better. But I am glad this day is over." TK told her, after which he scanned the room to see any other issues. "Looks like everyone is ready for this day to be over."

Matt walked to his brother, threw an arm under the shoulders, and hoisted TK up. Joe joined the two and began examining TK's upper right arm.

"It looks like it will be a pretty nasty bruise, but it's not swelling." The future doctor grasped it gently. "Can you rotate your shoulder, TK?"

TK could.

"Did that feel okay?" Joe inquired.

"It aches, but that didn't make it feel any worse." TK replied. Matt grinned tightly.

"Well, that's one problem solved." He looked around. "Now how are we going to clean up this mess?"

The formerly lush field was anything but lush. The only fresh things were the new craters from Megadramon's attacks. Nothing green was left, neither in the forms of grass nor moss.

'_That phase warp must have sucked the life out of everything.' _Sora thought as her eyes scanned the immediate area. "I guess we have some work to do." She then said aloud. A noise interrupted her next thought.

Gomamon laughed.

"What?" He then asked after Joe and Yolei looked at him. "I'm hungry!"

"I could use some food too, Davis." Chibomon chirped. A general consensus had been met.

"Well guys, we can message Izzy to bring you guys some grub." Tai decided and whipped out his D-terminal.

"Okay, and I'll message Mimi," Sora announced. "We all need to come up with a plan."

"Sure, but let's get out of this space, it's starting to give me the creeps." Davis suggested. He looked at the sky and the dark wave fighting to cover more ground. "Aw man! Can't we ever get a break? We just finished our fight with BlackWarGreymon, and now we have to fight against something that doesn't even have a shape?" He expressed his frustration. Matt's expression hardened.

"Look, just because you guys have been lucky enough to make this an after-school club, doesn't mean you don't still have a full time commitment."

"Matt—" Davis began. "I'm—"

"Don't worry Davis," TK said hoarsely, with a grin on his face nonetheless. "He's just being the stressful self and openly challenging you to perform your greatest without even realizing it. It's his reverse psychology."

"You heard all of what that data talking through Kari said? I didn't even know if you were conscious." Matt remarked, his tone changing to try to withhold the embarrassment of having his character's foil exposed.

"I heard most of it. The initial bit was a bit fuzzy."

"You remember more than I do," Kari's eyes held shame. "Everything from the time I arrived here until just now is fuzzy. It's as if I was watching another person's dream." Her expression then shifted to a firmness the young girl rarely displayed, and her voice regained a force she had not expressed in years. "I know I must do something, but I do not know exactly what. I also know all of you-" she looked around only to lock eyes with her brother, "—have known that something was going on, and how there are things that have been happening, both to this world and to me." The glowing light intensified as the emotions from the past week leaked out. Kari turned to see Andromon and Piximon. "I gather the two of you, as the Vaccines, are well aware of everything that has been going on. What can you tell me about my situation?"

Andromon sank to one knee.

"Queen Kari," it began. "It seems you have been chosen to rebuild what has been destroyed since before the Dark Masters. You are the one for whom we Vaccine digimon have been searching."

"I have been longing for the Temple of Faith to return to us. I will help in what ever means I must." Piximon bowed. "I can hope you will select a Piximon again to be one of the Temple's guards once its awakening has been completed."

While all of the other children appeared confused, the Child of Faith did not.

'_This feels so weird, but at the same time, so right.'_ Kari thought with an internal smile. _'I know once again I have a purpose to fulfill.' _ Her mental calmness was shot down as a physical pain emerged. She took a deep breath to help focus herself, as Ken had showed her a few hours before. The light finally began to dim. _'I need to learn how to control this odd power I have. Maybe like karate, or—'_ Kari's eyes shot to Ken, to Tai, then to TK.

"You guys! Why didn't you tell me?" She exclaimed as the light ceased and the color returned to the face. The three boys took on mixed looks of apprehension, entertainment, and shame. Their eyes travelled to one another in attempts to harbor and easy answer.

"You know what? Never mind!" Kari huffed and began the trek away from the battleground.

Davis glared at Yolei as everyone began to follow suit.

"You are such a bad influence on her."

Yolei could only huff in return; her reaction unleashing a laugh that had been needed for days.

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><p><strong>Until the story ends, this is the closest I can promise to a cliff-free chapter ending.<strong>

**How many chapters did I get done this week? Wow. I wonder if I'll be able to keep up at this pace while plot progressing (probably not, so don't get the hopes up).**

**Thanks for reading, and the reviews. With you guys, I will be able to keep this up as you help me make it better!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey strangers! What's new? Sorry this took a bit of time; I had become so use to the action scene, writing out one that brings all the characters to an equal level while still pushing the plot forward was tricky.**

**Clockmon- Thank you! I'm glad you like it! I think "Hey, they're teenagers- they're going to curse!"**  
><strong>endlessfun- Sorry! The new job got in my way a bit. But I hope this one doesn't disappoint; it may be a bit filler-like during the first bit. "Take me to them dirty ladies all the time!"<strong>  
><strong>crestoflight3- Not much action in this one, sorry. But it'll explain what they plan to do as they tackle the true task at hand. Not to spoil it for you, but the next chapter should begin to hint at the main action sequence.<strong>  
><strong>Together Again- Shh!<strong>

**Well, I hope you guys like this!  
><strong>

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><p>The singing wind reached out to one of the eldest of altars, hoping it could break through to replenish the lighthouse tower which could summon all the Children. The atmosphere around its remains was unrelenting, and while the chorus of the wind swelled into a crescendo; the force contaminating the sacred place of summons could not be defeated by the spirit of Faith alone.<p>

The wind of song reached out beyond its blessed keep in hopes to find the last person who could purify the Temple, lest it be tainted for its remaining existence.

Ten people and their digimon sat in an awkward silence on the outskirts of Primary Village while time passed as they waited for the remaining two teenagers to arrive. There was little to say, and even less energy to physically say. Not even the typically cheerful Chibumon knew how to penetrate the silence.

After roughly five minutes of the static air, Izzy and Tentomon were sighted walking up the hill, both holding plastic bags: one containing food for the digimon, and another with water and aspirin to comfort the humans after the series of battles they fought over the afternoon. Izzy could tell by the facial expressions there was no need to speak; so he simply handed out the supplies and tried to repress his desire to learn, in detail, what had happened since they entered the DigiWorld roughly eight hours ago. There was no verbal communication, and the only new noise was of the scarffing of food by their digimon.

Nonetheless, the silence was shattered with an enthusiastic call.

"Hey guys!" The teenager named Mimi called out. Her voice was innocent; her mind unaware of how the day had gone. Mimi and Palmon skidded to a stop when she noticed the looks on her friends' faces. "Did something happen? Is everyone alright?"

"It depends on your definition of "alright"." Yolei said, mostly to herself. She winced as she received a hard elbow from Davis; his silent way of saying "Not now."

"The question on everyone's mind: what can we do now?" Izzy began once everyone had settled. "We have information; both from the Data and the Vaccine digimon, but most of what we can find are the legends behind what this Temple of Faith represents, and how it can connect with Kari's Crest of Light.

"Andromon," Izzy then nodded to the robotic digimon, "have you been able to collect any more information, or translated any programs to help us? Or anything on that rhyme?"

"Negative. There are two firewalls, one I was able to penetrate, but another is not accessible at this time."

"Okay, so we need to go over what each of us has been able to find out."

"How about we start off with everyone telling me what has been going on the past two weeks?" Kari interrupted. Her voice was back to the normal, mezzo-soprano pitch, but the tone was cold. Her eyes narrowed. The emotions she was displaying were unusual for her, and even the older ones did not know exactly how to address her.

_'Once again, I am reminded how I really do not know what my friends are made of beyond the day-to-day external selves.'_ Cody thought sadly. He was reminded of the small bits of anger he saw TK express against Ken, then against Arukenimon and BlackWarGreymon. _'I wonder how many times Kari has wanted to say something, or challenge what we were doing, but never spoke up. Was she worried about upsetting us?_ Cody decided it was time to tell his friend what had led to the day. He turned to look directly at the girl.

"It started when we were bringing you home after you fell ill, Kari." Cody began. "Do you remember how we were being chased by the Vilemon?" Kari shook her head slightly. The youngest boy continued as he ignored the various glares. "I'm guessing your fever spiked; plus the stress from the attack would make any memory from that day hazy. You were being carried ahead of us by Angemon, but there were so many of the Vilemon that he had to place you next to Yolei, Ankylomon, and I. Yet it seemed like those Vilemon were after us," _'Maybe after you,'_ "and right when one was about to strike at Ankylomon, you began to glow.

"It almost felt like a shockwave had gone off. Most of the digimon we were fighting were either destroyed or forced away from us by the power coming from your body." Cody summarized. "Yolei and I hadn't a clue as to what was going on. Yet for some reason, I felt more—alive than I had in a long time. Ankylomon was suddenly moving with more energy, despite not eating since we left the school." His voice trailed off. He did not know how to conclude the battle.

Yolei chose to speak next.

"You, well- we assumed it was you, told us we had to get out of there. Just as suddenly as the energy arrived, it vanished, with the exception of the light itself." The events of the past week continued; Yolei summed up why they did what they did. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay physically before any of this new stuff stressed you out. We also wanted to know if there was anything we could do to help. That's when Wormmon mentioned the legend of the Crest of Faith. He heard it was used by digimon to become more power efficient. Our digimon did some digging, and several of your old friends were able to help us find a way to look. Remember when we ran into you at the DigiWorld? It was when we were learning of what some SaberLeomon had known!"

"He would have known only the rumors. We Vaccine digimon may ally ourselves with the Data types, but the Temple of Faith and its altars are sacred to us, and after the Temple was drained and disappeared, we vowed to keep the true location of the Crest hidden away." Piximon declared. He then looked around to the Data-type digimon surrounding him. "I mean no offense, nope nope. But ever since the Temple faded away, we've been hoping for it to return to us." He looked to Kari with admiration. "And if the prophecy you told me is coming true, then it soon will."

"Prophecy?" Kari asked. "What's happening this time?" She turned to Tai. "Will Angewoman have to shoot you with an arrow again?"

Salomon snickered.

"You probably wouldn't mind this time." The kitten added. A small chuckle came from Matt's direction.

"After you turned _Alight,_ we contacted Gennai. He got back to us a few days ago, sharing a rhyme that linked the term "Faith" with your—abilities." Tai picked up where Yolei had left off. He proceeded to recite the verse that had been running through his mind for days.

"'_When the darkest of waters awash those Alight  
>And are trapped in the tides frozen of fright<br>A golden glow will surround those most dear,  
>To protect from that which the white light must fear.<br>As a voice will invoke the followers of night  
>Faith will be forced to return to the fight.'<em>

"That's why we were all here today. We were looking around to find the Vaccine digimon who could help us confirm that we had any hope of finding this thing." Tai cocked his head towards Ken, "which was his idea. Ken also thought of showing you some martial arts stuff." His expression turned sheepish. "I guess you figured that out already though, huh?"

Kari nodded, suppressing a sigh.

'_I—suppose I understand. I just wish they would tell me from the start.'_ Kari did not know how to address the entire group on the matter. She did not even know how to address the sensation within herself. _'But why do I feel so disappointed with myself?'_

"Well, from what I could understand the data saying, I need to find those altars. Andromon? Would you have the information on their previous locations?" Kari shifted the discussion from the events of the past into plans of the present.

"I do have the last official record of the altars." It responded. "There are ten altars on file. I cannot promise the locations to be accurate, as this information was processed before the birth of Spiral Mountain."

"Thanks Andromon, and that's okay. We already know where seven of the altars are." Cody confirmed.

"Wait? We do?" Davis asked. Cody nodded.

"Remember what the data said? The Temple of Faith had altars made to protect the birth of the Destiny Stones." He answered.

"Once all altars are purified, the Temple shall emerge from its refuge." Piximon announced. "And with the rebirth of Faith, the firewall between the Digital World and the Dark World should be reestablished.

"But there will be a time limit." He concluded. "All processes will need to be updated quickly, or there could be a system failure."

"Great," Yolei muttered. "More stress."

"Well Yolei, it could be worse," Mimi spoke up.

"You guys should consider yourselves lucky anytime there is even a hint of what you must accomplish. Plus, with a plan you will know how to band together." Sora encouraged. She turned to Andromon and Piximon. "Will we older kids be able to help this time?"

"Not much more than you are helping now: gather information and watch out for each other." Piximon answered sadly. "The only one who can cleanse the altars is Kari, and she will have to will herself _Alight _to do so."

TK spoke for the first time since returning, his voice trying in vain to mask anger at the situation.

"But—how will she be able to keep up with the pace? And how can we protect her from the darkness? It will sense her and try to take her away again! She was showing signs of turning _Alight_ back before we even had the second set of Digi-eggs; it is how those creatures of darkness found her!" The boy turned to Kari. "I'm sorry if you think I'm overreacting; but I fear the phrase 'third time's a charm.' I worry they have discovered your weakness."

"That weakness being-?" Kari questioned, her voice slightly snippy. She may not have harboured harsh feelings; but, she was tired from the events of the day, added to the stress of the past week. Part of the stress vanished when TK grinned a sardonic smile.

"Us. You would walk through fire for us, Kari. We all know it. You surrendered yourself to Myotismon, joined us in spite of that virus that would not leave your body."

"Actually, it was probably a bacterium." Izzy interrupted, accompanied with a nod from Joe. TK ignored them.

"The point is- if you want us to trust you regarding your health and stamina, you need to be one-hundred percent honest, even blunt, with us. I don't care if you are simply hungry; you may be the last barricade and, therefore we need you as strong as possible: both physically and mentally.

"If you agree to tell me when you need a break, then I will follow you from horizon back." TK had spoken with a passion the normally laid-back boy seldom unleashed.

"TF's right Kari!" Davis pumped his fist into the air, determined not to let his enemy have the last word. He had learned from past experiences how he could not mention risking his own safety for her—she was not a fan of that proclamation.

_'Still,'_ Davis said to his self, _'I don't care what the cost. I will protect Kari.'_ The rest of the group, old and new, humans and digimon, held the same sentiment in their thoughts.

_'She risked her own life to safe me from the Dark Ocean; I will gladly do the same for her,'_ ran through Ken's mind.

_'I let her sacrifice herself for my safety once before. She will not do it again!'_ declared Matt's inner voice.

_'We're partners! Kari would do the same for me.'_ Yolei's self-monologue announced.

Whether she was reading their faces, or somehow accessing their thoughts, Kari smiled softly as she nodded her head in agreement.

"Let's go home to rest and to eat, and we will meet up tomorrow to formulate a plan." She suggested. The group nodded in agreement, and arranged to meet the next day at 3 o'clock.

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><p><strong>Next time, on <span>Crest of Faith<span>, the darkest of waters begin to creep up to initiate retaliation. Will the untrained Child of Faith be able escape the encroaching tides, or is the fear from those tides targeting another?**

**I hope you enjoyed, and that I won't leave you hanging for too long. I have a long break during work tomorrow, maybe I'll be able to start 16. The race to the climax begins!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I hope everyone in the US was able to enjoy the pyrotechnics tonight!  
>Thank you again crestoflight3, endlessfun, and pokemonfan1991. And welcome Ykcor! It's been months since this started; I still do a happy dance for the reviews!<br>This chapter's a bit shorter than the last few, but there are a few different scenes, and anymore in one chapter may seem scattered.**

I still do not own the rights to Digimon, and both positive and negative input is welcome!

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><p>"<em>Master—the time has arrived. We have found the waypoint to the sacred gate which has locked us in this world for thousands of digital years. We can begin to try to push through, and reclaim the Digital World as our own."<em>

_ "You may begin the assault of the firewall. Remember, my followers, this may be the last time for one thousand years. Until we convert the Child, the force we exert alone may not be enough to claim the other worlds for ourselves."_

_ "The Child is a weak one, Master; one who has yet to grasp the meaning of the task at hand. We can remove that Child with ease."_

_ "First, we must affect the others, so the Child will have no choice but to come to us and submit. We will leak the darkness out of our world to contaminate them. The Child will give up itself to save the others; it has before. All it will take is one act of darkness, and the Child will be ours."  
><em>

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><p>"Are you sure you're okay, Kari?" Salamon asked. Her partner had been quiet as the two of them and Tai walked into the apartment. Kari's eyes looked tired; her mouth locked. She looked down onto her digimon, and attempted a soft smile.<p>

"It's just a lot to process. I'll be better after some sleep." Her smile broadened as her eyes met with her big brother's. "Though now that I know what's been going on, and how we can have a plan, I feel like a huge weight was removed from my shoulders; as cliché as that sounds." The girl laughed lightly. "So, you guys have even converted Ken to your ways."

Tai laughed.

"Actually, that judo bit, and staying here, was his idea. I'm starting to like this guy."

"Why? Because he's just as bad as you are?"

Tai laughed again.

"Partially, but I like how he is with planning. It's almost like he has a sibling too."

Kari did not respond.

'_I don't think I can answer that. It's up to Ken to tell the others.'_ She thought.

Salamon spoke up as they neared the door.

"So, am I a cat today, or a stuffed animal?" The Rookie asked.

"You actually look kinda like a dog." Tai began.

"What? A dog? Hmmph!" Salamon strolled ahead, with her tail upright and nose high as she responded to the insult.

"What'd I say?" The boy then asked. Kari shook her head and sighed.

"Why we never let Davis and yourself be alone in the same room for more than ten minutes," was her reply.

"Ten minutes is pushing it!" Salamon called back.

* * *

><p>"We need to relocate where each of the Destiny Stones are," Yolei began with TK and Cody as the three reached their apartment complex. "I wish we had kept a map."<p>

"Well, we should be able to track which portals we had accessed through the computers, so we can always start there. I wish there was a way we could watch our memories online for free." The blond boy joked.

"I have a question," Cody began, his words directed at TK. "The—what did we call it—data that spoke through Kari warned us of our weakness. Did she mean physical weakness, or a mental weakness? Do we need to find out who the weakest in the team is, or do we have a weakness as a group?"

TK's eyes turned to the sky as his mind turned to the past. He could envision the waves of the Digiworld blocking the stars.

"I doubt it would be a physical weakness, Cody," he began, "and I know why you are asking. I remember how I was always assumed to be the weakest- by both our enemies, and by the group itself. It didn't help that I was the youngest, or that Patamon was the smallest." TK looked at the boy with a sardonic grin. "My attitude at that age did not help either. I was sensitive, and had a temper. I probably threw more fits than Mimi did." A chuckle from Patamon emerged. "It wasn't until after we defeated Myotismon that I finally started to grow up."

"I wasn't much better, TK," Patamon chimed in. "I was always sensitive about everything. I guess I was just insecure about how long it took for me to digivolve." The Rookie pouted. "I still remember how it only took Koromon one day, maybe two, to return to being Agumon. It took me months to return to being Patamon, and another two weeks before I could become Angemon again. I hated how I could never digivolve. I even was lowered to In-Training after becoming Champion, and by that time the others had become so used to digivolving to Ultimate they would return to Rookie.

"Then, all it took for Gatomon to reach the Ultimate level was for Kari to touch her crest. I questioned if I could even become an Ultimate. And now, I wonder if it was my lack of hope that prevented me from digivolving."

Cody shook his head.

"No, Patamon. From the stories I've heard from the others, you were often a league above your level. You defeated Phantomon with a single blow, right? You even were able to match BlackWarGreymon as MagnaAngemon."

"Don't forget: we kick butt when we DNA-digivolve! Our Shakkoumon is the best!" Upamon chirped.

"Hey? What about us?" Pururumon countered.

"We need to start making plans for tomorrow, not pondering the past." Yolei interjected. "What are the weaknesses, and what could we do to overcome them?

"We should think about what they could be tonight, and then tomorrow we can address any ideas. We may have to be blunt to each other, and we may ruffle feathers, but the more direct we are the better."

The group had entered the building, and with a nod, each entered their own apartment.

* * *

><p>Ken and Leafmon had returned home in silence. It was not until they had arrived at the boy genius's room that Leafmon chose to speak.<p>

"Ken? What's the matter?" The plant-like digimon asked softly. Ken could only sigh.

"It's silly, but part of me feels I let the others, especially Tai and TK, down today. I promised I would protect Kari, but I could not."

"Don't say that, Ken. You did everything you could. In the end, it worked out. We kept her from being sucked into the Dark World, and if we had not gone into the DigiWorld, we would not know how we can find the Crest."

"I know, but I wish there was more I could do."

"Maybe that is your weakness, Ken."

"What do you mean?"

"The data which spoke to us said we needed to overcome our weaknesses, and I think yours might be the lack of trust you have in yourself. You are beginning to trust the others more and more with every adventure, but you still fear somehow you may return to the ways of the Digimon Emperor."

"Leafmon—" Ken did not know how to respond. He was neither shocked at Leafmon's observation, nor offended. He had not expected his partner to directly share Ken's fears, however. "I wonder," he looked out his window to the rising moon, "if our fears could be the true weakness against the darkness. Not the general fears, like those of heights or tight spaces, but the fears we have regarding ourselves: the fear of failure, of disappointment, and the fears of our own inner darkness.

"My fear may be of that darkness indeed. When I was unable to reach Kari, I thought of the darkness within me, and that it could only harm the light that was helping to hold her in our physical world. Why did my hand pass through her?"

"Ken- you are not that person anymore. I trust you, and your friends trust you." Leafmon assured the human as he was settled onto the bed. "Remember what Tai said in the park? They all want to get to know you more. They accept your past; just like how they accept Gatomon's past.

"The more you doubt yourself, the weaker you will become." The digimon's final statement of the matter was blunt. Ken could merely nod, his eyes still focused on the sky.

'_Kari reminds me so much of Sam. I hope I can help her, just like how Sam would have helped me.'_ Ken asserted to himself as he prepared for sleep. It had been a long, long day.

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><p>"<em>If only we had kept the girl for ourselves. I am getting sick of following his orders."<em>

"_And he is not even the highest rank. He may think he is the true ruler, but if he can barely control the oceans, I doubt he could have any power over the lands."_

"_Will you shut up? If any of his flunkies here us talking, we will be deleted instantly."_

"_You already screwed us up the last time. You did not even know the real name of the digimon we were disguised as."_

"_Poe-tay-toe, po-tot-oe."_

"_Both of you: shut up! Now, what did our "Master" say he was planning?"_

"_He wants to target the others first. He thinks if they lose the ability to trigger the D3s, they will begin to confront each other. Then, once they split, he will be able to entrap the Child. He plans to destroy the Child instantly."_

"_How will he do that?"_

"_When the girl wielding love could not recognize her love, her follower could not advance. When the one boy was hostile to his companions, his device would not allow the digimon to warp. _

"_Even when the new batch digivolves to Champion, they still use the powers the digi-eggs held. The Master thinks the simple questioning of one of their traits will inhibit advancement, which will allow darkness to encroach."_

"_What about the one boy? He does not need the power, and he is growing closer to the Child."_

"_While the flunkies are targeting the others, we can drag him here. He may act strong, but he is just as weak to our world as he was in the past. One hostage is all we need to force the Child to submit. We can bring the Temple of Faith into our world; we will corrupt any form of faith into fear. One altar is already ours, two have been used by the darkness in the past, and that fool spider is helping us more than we could ever ask for."_

_A diabolical laugh spread amongst the dark shadows as their plan of revolution and corruption became clear. The mutinous group had a simple, yet risky, idea on how they could conquer their world, and knew exactly what they needed to gain the figurative upper hand._

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><p><strong>::Bats eyelashes:: I hope this was enjoyable, and worth the wait. Feel free to tell me how it can be improved!<br>How will the good guys be able to face their own darkness, or will they unknowingly aid in the defiling of the altars of Faith? Find out next time in Crest of Faith!  
><strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**Greetings my friends. I have a challenge for everyone, both the new and the old. It's been six months since this story began, I have been thinking the summary I have to try to lure readers does not fit the plot as it is now. Would anyone be up to suggest a rewrite of it? I'll give credit at the top of the first chapter, and at the A/N of the 18th.**

**Well, be prepared for a long, action-packed chapter with a cliffhanger that has some foreshadowing to who the next main fight will be with. Ten points if you guess who!**  
><strong>Do I own Digimon yet? Nope.<strong>

* * *

><p>A holy rite began atop one of the high, grassy hills bordering Server's vast deserts. A single seed had sprouted; with the thin, green stem uncurling and a soft, white bud emerging. It tilted to face the upcoming dawn; quietly awaiting the moment when it could bloom like its predecessor once did. It softly swayed with the wind, as if to perform a traditional dance inspired by the sacred tune carried. The wind rejoiced at the sudden company by forming a harmony with its own echo. The seedling joined in the celebration with unfurling leaves. It tried with all possible might, but the young sprout could not blossom. A slight shadow impaired the progress. All it would take to complete its rebirth was a bit more light.<p>

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><p>She could not stop humming. It was beginning to get on her classmates' nerves.<p>

Kari blamed the song which had been playing in her head on the good mood she had since she awoke. She was medically "okay" to return to school, she had only missed three tests in two of her easier classes, her circulation was better than it had been in a week, and she knew a plan.

Kari seldom expressed her feelings to the others, as she had been afraid of hurting theirs, but one of her greatest pet peeves of the past few months was the disorganization of the group. They never knew what they would be doing until the day was almost over, which would often be a reaction to what the bad guys were up to do. The most planning had been put into the general clean-up after Magnamon defeated Kimeramon. It was unlike her first adventure. While the group did not anticipate the events, they had recognized who the enemy was and what they would need to do: they had to defeat the Dark Masters.

"_Even before I joined, the others had missions, ones that did not even revolve around a bad guy. They went to Server to find their crests, not fight Etemon. They came back to this world to find me; if Myotismon did not have my crest we might not have even confronted him in this world. There was just as much, if not more, finding as there was fighting._

"_I may just be happy that I must go out to find again." _A smile softly appeared as her hum jumped to reach the closing note of a song which she had never heard before. Seconds later, the bell rang to signal the end of the day. Kari rose along with the other students, fighting the urge to dance to her silent beat. The brunette maintained all composure as she answered perfunctory questions regarding her health, the assignments due the next day, and the extra credit she would complete to compensate for the loss in lecture participation. Then, with the smile and a graceful frame, she went her way to the computer lab as her humming returned accompanied by a brief _pas de chat_ into the halls.

* * *

><p>By sheer luck, Yolei was the first human to arrive at the computer lab. The now In-Training digimon popped out of their hiding places as a humming Rookie and Champion jumped through the window to greet her.<p>

"Hi Yolei!" Poromon bounced his way towards his human partner to jump into the girl's arms. The young teen laughed for a moment, only to halt when she met eyes with Gatomon.

"Well?" Yolei asked. No specification was needed.

"She slept better than she had in weeks." The cat-like digimon smiled widely. "Kari's been in a good mood ever since we arrived at her home last night. Just knowing what we need to do is making her feel better!"

"It's making us all feel better," Yolei replied with a smile of her own. She turned to Patamon. "What's that song? I've never heard it before."

Patamon shrugged his tiny shoulders.

"Don't ask me." He pointed to Gatomon. "She's the one who got it stuck in my head. Gatomon's been singing it since we hit our tree."

"I don't know what it is, Kari started it. Maybe she heard it on that ray-dee-o thing."

"Well," DemiVeemon hopped from floor, to chair, to desk. "I like it!" He hummed the first few notes, and then halted. "Wait? How does it go?"

"No clue. Ask Kari when she gets here," Patamon responded.

"Ask Kari what? Is she okay?" Davis demanded from the door.

_"Trust Davis to overreact,"_ Yolei's mind muttered. The girl decided to ease the hyper boy's worries.

"Kari's fine. She started a tune version of the game 'Telephone': a song went from her, to Gatomon, to Patamon, and now your guy has an incorrect version of the song playing in his head. We'll just ask her what the words to the song are, so these guys," she gestured with her palm to the older digimon, "can begin the process of getting whatever it is called out of their heads. There isn't much that can be more irritating than the background music stuck on repeat." She then switched the topic. "So, who's coming with us and what's the plan going to be?"

"Umm—oh yeah!" Davis's hand rose to scratch the back of his neck. "Tai told me to come here and tell you something, but I forgot what it was." He managed to look slightly abashed.

"You forgot!" Yolei screeched. "What did you forget?" Her shoulders tensed and her hands formed fists besides her hips. "I swear Davis, one of these days your idiocy is going to cost us! How are we going to help Kari if you forgot what we were supposed to do?"

"You can start by taking a deep breath and relaxing a bit, Yolei." Gatomon said. "Then you can ask Tai." The Champion pointed at the doors. Tai and Izzy were walking into the lab. The boys each held shopping bags.

"I told Davis to say Kari will be doing a make-up quiz, TK and Matt will be bringing food, and how Izzy and I will have plenty of this," Tai reached into the bag to hold up a bottle of water, "so he should have remembered that you two needed to wait a bit for all of us."

"Where will we be meeting Ken?" DemiVeemon asked.

"He'll tell us when he's ready, and then we'll warp to the same point in the DigiWorld." Yolei answered. She had regained her composure, completely forgetting about her moment of temper. She turned to the red-haired boy who had sat to start up a computer. "Hey Izzy, were you able to track where those Destiny Stones were?"

"Yes," he answered. "The easiest one to access will be on Server. I can detect where four others are, so that will allow us to reach fifty percent completion."

"Let's just see what we can do to this one, and then we'll work on the others." Tai added. "We don't even know how Kari can be able to seal the gates."

"She can do it, Tai." Upamon said. "Cody thinks she can, so I do too! He even told me so!"

"Cody expressed himself? That's new." Davis joked. The humans and digimon looked directly at him without blinking. "And he just walked in, didn't he?"

"Yes, I did." Cody said quietly. The boy walked up to sit in a chair by their main computer. He did not comment on what he had heard, nor did his face display any change. "So, are we going to meet Andromon by the ruins we are going to?"

"No, I predict it would be best if the first time was as small a group as possible. Any additional people could add stress, and becoming _Alight_ causes enough pressure on Kari's physical and mental health. I am willing to speculate Kari's illness reappeared back during the Dark Masters' battles because the data used Kara's energy to show us those images back in the past." Izzy told. "The sudden deduction of her physical self triggered the spiritual self to ignite."

"Did you get any of that?" Demiveemon asked Patamon. The Rookie shook his head.

"We always tuned Izzy out after the first few words. The more we listened, the more confused we were."

"Hey guys!" Kari walked into the room with a grin.

"Wow, you're looking good Kari," Izzy declared. Tai and Davis both turned to glare. "Healthy good, I mean. You look healthy."

Kari laughed.

"Thank you, Izzy." The brunette looked around. "So, is everyone ready?"

"We're just waiting for TK and Matt, and then we're off to save the day!" Davis cheered.

"Save the day!" Demiveemon echoed the words and mirrored the action. He proceeded to fall off the desk.

"Oww—"

Kari laughed again as Gatomon jumped to her shoulder.

"If I didn't know any better, I would ask where you've been hiding the catnip."

"I'm just happy that I was in school today."

"A sudden release of endorphins triggered by high serotonin levels can mimic the same reaction as the digestion of stimuli." Izzy recited.

Demiveemon looked up to Patamon from the floor.

"You're right, ignoring him does work."

* * *

><p>"Will you be ready?" Matt asked his younger brother as the two walked into the school, both carrying bags of food. He glanced at the boy, noticing the stiffening posture.<p>

"I have to be. I do not know what my purpose is, and how I can help, but I have to be there." TK asserted, both to the taller blond and to his self.

"You need to realize that you may not have a purpose in this matter at all. We may all just be to watch, wishing we could have some type of role."

TK frowned. The conversation he held with Cody and Yolei the other afternoon replayed in his mind.

_'Could this be my own weakness? Is it an issue of pride that makes me think I will be some factor? Or do I throw myself into the matter because I still hold that promise with Sora and Tai?'_ TK suppressed a grunt. _'Or am I using that promise as an excuse so I can finally find out what has been going on for the past several years?'_

"Hey kid! Are you sleepwalking?" Matt asked, half-jokingly. TK's mind snapped to the door he was about to walk into.

"Are we ready?" TK repeated Matt's question to the group. A universal nod showed the consensus.

"Ken's ready when we are," Yolei confirmed.

"Okay!" Tai declared. "Kari, it's your day. Care to do the honors?"

Still smiling, Kari lifted her D3 over Izzy's shoulder to the computer screen.

"Digiport open!"

* * *

><p>"<em>Master, we have located the first area about to reform. Shall we break that barrier before it is sealed?"<em>

"_How weak is the rip?"_

"_It is a moderate strength."_

"_Ignore it then. We can easily destroy it once we overthrow the Child."_

"_But sir—"_

"_What?"_

"_That altar is one of the few that can access the primary world of the Child. The traitors were able to hack into it to bring the girl to an altar of our own."_

"_Why did you not say so? Fools, you must start pushing through the rift between dimensions. We can use this as a test run to try to find the best way to bring the Child of Faith to its knees."  
><em>

* * *

><p>The group met with Ken right next to the television portal. He smiled his typical soft smile at his friends.<p>

"Hello," he began. "Is everyone ready? I brought some food. I did not know if we would need any or not."

"Ken, we always need food." Wormmon said. He stood to the side, by three other Rookies."

"Agumon!" Tai greeted his friend. Gabumon and Tentomon rushed to their partners in a similar matter.

"We're here to help out however much we can." Gabumon assured them.

"That's right! It is time for teamwork." Tentomon said.

"Thank you," Kari replied. "I'll need as much teamwork as possible." She looked around. "All of you have better memories of the times this has happened than I have. I do not even think Tai ever told me about the first time the Data used me to speak."

"Really? I could have sworn I had." Tai protested. His hand rose to scratch his neck. "Well, we were preoccupied at the time." He turned to grin widely at Matt. "Somebody was overcoming a temper tantrum."

"The stress got to me." Matt shrugged.

"What? No reaction? Are you feeling okay, buddy?"

"Oh Tai," Agumon sighed. TK and Kari chuckled at the familiarity of that expression.

"Anyway—" TK said as he redirected the conversation. "It's time to start heading over. Point the way, Izzy." The red-head had his old laptop in hand.

"There is one about 0.25 miles to the digital northeast. Given our average speed, it should take us roughly 4.9 minutes." Izzy looked to Tai and Agumon as they all began walking. "It may be familiar to the two of you. The spot is on the ridge before that broken coliseum where Greymon first turned into SkullGreymon."

"You mean, that happened before?" Ken asked, referring to his Digimon Emperor act when he abducted Agumon with a Dark Ring.

"Yes. Before we had learned how the crests worked, Tai tried to trigger its power using what we knew to activate our digivices. He jumped into the middle of a battle Greymon was in, just to try to get him to digivolve into Ultimate. Greymon did digivolve, but not to his true upper level. He turned into SkullGreymon. Somehow, his formation converted from data into virus, possibly corrupted by Tai's actions." Izzy shared. Tai's eyes turned shamefully to the ground.

"I learned an important lesson from that day. It wasn't until Piximon found us that Agumon and I realized we cannot change the events in the past, but we can work to improve our actions in the future. We faced our fears. In a sense, it was the first step to unlocking the power of the Crest of Courage." Tai said.

"When did Agumon first become MetalGreymon?" Yolei asked.

"I did another reckless, stupid thing when we went to try to get Sora's crest. I thought we were video game-like data, where I could not be hurt. Because of my actions, Sora was kidnapped by Datamon, an enemy of Etemon. A dangerous, electric fence blocked the way, and I had learned the fence could kill me. But I had to go through it to rescue Sora. So I shoved my arm through. I recognized a fear, faced my fear, and overcame that fear."

"That sounds like courage to me!" Armadillomon chimed. Tai smiled.

"Well, my crest thought so. Sure enough, Greymon had to fight off Etemon, who had been able to fuse with his Dark Network. With my crest activated, he was able to become MetalGreymon." Tai finished. He looked around. "Hey Izzy! Are we here already?"

"Affirmative." Izzy answered. Kari closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"We are. It's right over there." She pointed to the crevice in the ground. A broken golden ring has half buried beneath sand. She began to walk forward, once again humming quietly to herself.

"You're right. This is where we arrived too late to save the Destiny Stone from BlackWarGreymon." Ken said.

"Hey guys!" Gatomon shouted. "I hear something!"

Hawkmon and Tentomon took to the air to look around.

"I think there is something coming from over there!" Tentomon gestured to his left. Gatamon's cat-like eyes could pick up the approaching danger.

"It's the darkness! How did they know we were here?"

"Okay, here's a plan," Matt turned to the younger kids. "You guys take Kari to find that seed of Light. Greymon, Garurumon, and Kabuterimon will distract any digimon following the darkness. Your digimon shouldn't digivolve yet, save the energy."

"But—" Davis began. Cody silenced him.

"Okay, Matt." He said with a nod. "Be careful."

"Hey, aren't we always?" Matt asked with a grin. He turned to his partner. "Let's go, Gabumon!"

"Right behind you, Matt." The horned dog said.

"Gabumon digivolve to—Garurumon!"

"Agumon digivolve to—Greymon!"

"Don't forget about me!" Tentamon shouted. "Tentomon digivolve to—Kabuterimon!"

The younger kids had begun to follow Kari down to what looked like a weed from the distance. Davis turned as he heard an odd, mechanical cry. His eyes bulged as he saw the creature approaching under the waves of darkness in the sky.

"Is that another Megadramon?" He asked as he pointed to the sky. Patamon looked up from his spot on TK's hat.

"No! It's his partner, a Gigadramon. If anything, he's even worse! It took all my power as Angemon just to fight off his Genocide Gear and Gigabyte Wing."

"Are you sure I shouldn't digivolve, Davis?" Veemon looked up to his friend. "We may need Paildramon to join the battle."

Davis thought for a moment, and then shook his head.

"No, we could be attacked from another side, and we need to defend Kari once she begins to glow."

"Wow, Davis is planning. This is serious." Yolei said in a flat tone. Ken grinned at her.

"One of us should keep an eye on that fight though, just in case. We can do it, right Wormmon?"

"Right!" The insect replied. However, the group could not turn away from the action before them.

* * *

><p>"Nova blast!" Greymon shouted as he fired his signature attack. The Ultimate digimon batted the fireball aside.<p>

"Darn! How are we going to fight this thing?" Tai demanded. "We needed six Champions to defeat the weaker Ultimate digimon."

"We just need to distract it until the other sides are scouted." Matt shouted out.

"And distract it we shall. Howling blaster!" Garurumon leapt to strike Gigadramon head-on.

"Electro-shocker!" Kabuterimon fired. The electric energy coursed through the metal of the android digimon.

"Hey! I think that worked a bit, it must be a Control Spire," Izzy concluded. "Hit him again, Kabuterimon!"

"Electro-shocker!"

The Ultimate dodged.

"Gigabyte wing!" Gigadramon fired back; his attack directly hit the giant insect.

"Arg!" Kabuterimon cried.

"Genocide Gear!" The next attack flew into the direction of the humans.

"Tai!" Greymon yelled out and flung himself before his friend. The strike forced him to return to Agumon.

"Tai!" A female voice cried.

The oldest brunette looked behind him, to see his younger sister staring at the fight.

"Kari! Go to the site! Don't worry about us!" He shouted back.

"Let us help!" Gatomon challenged.

"Not yet," Matt demanded. "You need to cover us from behind."

The site of her friends in danger reminded Kari of the struggles in Machinedramon's city.

"If only they could reach Ultimate. What was the point of that shield our crests made if the darkness keeps coming through?" TK shouted with anger in his voice.

"Yeah, Angewomon would defeat that guy no problem." Gatomon said.

"Well, you can't become Angewomon right now." TK replied.

"Don't look now, but the darkness is getting closer!" Patamon alerted them as he pointed to the sky.

_"Great, just what we need."_ TK thought. He looked at the digimon. "Well, that's the enemy causing us danger, it's time to digivolve."

"Don't DNA-digivolve though; we may need that energy to help Kari." Ken told them.

"We're on it! Veemon digivolve to—Exveemon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to—Aquilamon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to—Ankylomon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to—Stingmon!"

"Patamon digivolve to—Angemon!"

The newly formed Champions formed a line between the battle and the crevice. They knew from the Data how weak the mythical seed of light must be.

"I think something is coming from the other side!" Aquilamon announced as he rose higher into the sky.

"Then we need to get rid of the Gigadramon now!" Exveemon declared.

Meanwhile, Kabuterimon and Garurumon were starting to wane in the fight.

"Wait!" Matt commended.

"Wait nothing! You guys need us!" TK called to his brother. A flash came from behind.

"Is that another Control Spire?" Ken inquired as he turned. The flash had another source. "Kari?" Kari's eyes were still closed. Her fists were clenched as she inhaled judo-style. "Kari?" Ken asked again. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Her voice was empty. "This feels so familiar."

"You're doing it Kari!" Davis cheered. "You are becoming _Alight_ on your own!"

"It's not _Alight_." TK whispered. "Look," as he pointed to her hands.

The light shining through them was a soft pink. It burst from her body and rippled through the sky like a shockwave.

"It's like the light that freed Andromon from the Dark Ring!" Davis realized.

"Grah!" The Gigadramon snarled as he was hit, exposing a crack into the Control Spire.

"Such power—" Garurumon growled deeply. "Garurumon digivolve to—WereGarurumon!"

"Oh my god—" Matt's eyes widened. "Is this real?"

"I haven't felt this in years." Kabuterimon exhaled. "Kabuterimon digivolve to—MegaKabuterimon!"

For once, Izzy was speechless.

"It's time for the pitch, my old friend. Horn blaster!" Megakabuterimon shot from his antenea towards the other Ultimate

"Wolf claw!" WereGarurumon swung his arm into the attack, aiming for Gigadramon.

"Grah!" The android shouted again as he shattered.

The remain Ultimates instantly returned to Rookie form.

"Gabumon!"

"Tentomon!" Izzy and Matt rushed to their sides.

"Wow—" Davis breathed. "That was—Wow—"

For once, Cody and Yolei agreed.

"What happened?"

"I know what happened," Agumon spoke up. He was sitting in Tai's arms, still recovering from the Genocide Gear. "When we fought Machinedramon, we were all weak from the lack of food and several fights. I was not able to digivolve to Greymon at all, but somehow I was able to use the power from Kari to warp digivolve. That light Kari just directed at us must have fueled Garurumon and Kabuterimon so they could digivolve."

"It was also the same color as the light which surrounded us in the Dark Ocean; the light that, I think, helped Aquilamon and Gatomon become Silphymon." Yolei spoke softly. "Is this the power to awaken those seeds to renew the altars?"

"It may be in part," Kari spoke for the first time since she called for Tai. Her voice had lowered into the now familiar tone, but there was no light emitting from her form. "But I must try to resurrect that altar before the darkness surrounds us."

Kari turned and walked down to where a small, green sprout was struggling to stay alive. A soft wind began to encircle the group.

Inside her mind, a part of her tried to fight off the ethereal conscious which overtook her mind every time she turned _Alight._ She wanted to learn to use the gift herself, and not through some alter-ego.

_'What do I do now? What if I mess up? What if I am not the one who should be doing this? I hope I don't fail them again—wait! Again? Have I truly done this once before? Why can I not remember?'_ Kari shook her head at herself. _'Snap out of it Kari. You are not a quitter. If the others trust you, you need to be able to trust yourself. Now breathe.'_ She raced through her memories, trying to recall any time in the past where she willingly harnessed her light. An image of the Scubamon flashed. _'That's it!_ Kari kneeled down before the struggling wisp of the flower. Her arms outstretched as she tensed the muscles in her palms and focused on the tingling rush beginning to course through her fingers. Her hands encircled the plant, with her fingers touching at the tips. A soft gust of wind reached the scene to brush her hair out of her face. The breeze began to sing; a quiet song only a few souls could hear.

Kari closed her eyes and smiled gently; she began to hum along.

Her eyes snapped open as a shock of energy emerged from her upper chest and shot between her hands. Her rendition of the song dropped an octave. The lower pitch was the sign two of the humans recognized at once.

"It has begun," Ken murmured. His voice was bewildered.

"Yes, it has," Gatomon confirmed. She knew the signs from the moment the wind awoke.

"What do you-?" Aquilamon started to ask his partner. The question was cut off when white light erupted from the girl kneeling before them.

Kari was once again _Alight_; it was her first time summoning the power on her own will. The light pulsing throughout her body simmered into her outreached hands in waves; escaping her form to rejuvenate the bud before her.

It, too, began to glow. However, it would not open.

_'I need—something else, something more. What am I missing?'_ The doubt crept through her mind, enticing a chill. The song began to fade, and the low echo of a tide began to fill her ears.

_'No! Not the waves!'_ Kari's inner voice screamed. She bit down harshly on her lip. Unbeknownst to her, her _Alight_ form began to fade.

An external voice called out.

"You can do it, Kari!" Cody encouraged. He knew his friend needed him; at that moment he realized he had to overcome an issue he had been plagued with: his suppression of his feelings, both positive and negative. He had been so self-conscious, but it appeared as apathetic.

_'Is my constant doubt in myself and the others my darkness? My weakness?'_ Cody shook his head of the thought and focused on his friend as she tried to save them all.

"You can do it, Kari! You can do it!" Everyone around her began to chant and to cheer. The Child of Faith took a deep breath. She began to hum again, lower in pitch but louder in volume. The repeat of the song, mixed with the voices of those who she loved, was able to mask the encroaching water. Kari focused solely on the buzz of power between her hands. It started to pulsate as the light grew brighter.

The bud opened. A flash of white encased the surroundings. The energy rippled. All of the Chosen Children could feel it.

The light faded within seconds. An altar had risen from the ground with a vine of white flowers cascading down the front. There was a concave carving on the top holding a small, tear-drop shaped stone which was encircled with a golden ring filled with untranslatable carvings. The Destiny Stone had been reborn, along with its sacred shield destroyed by Piedmon all those years ago.

Kari, still _Alight_, was sprawled before a marble step. She had lost consciousness.

Yolei jumped forward as she dug a water bottle and a vial of aspirin out of her bag.

_'She did it! She really did it! Atta girl!'_ Yolei could not have been more proud of her friend. She jumped onto the natural ramp to slide down towards to newly emerged altar. When she reached the bottom, she knelt down beside Kari.

"Hey sweetie," she said with uncharacteristic affection. "Let's get you up." Yolei hooked her elbow to lift Kari up. "Yeow!" She screeched as a shock rippled through her side. _'The joys of static energy,'_ her mind sighed as her arm moved to the younger girl again. Her eyes saw the bolt of white static springing to her arm. "What the-?" The light pulsed around Kari's body, as if to form a barrier from all beings. Yolei looked up to meet eyes with Izzy. "Hey guys! I can't touch her."

"What do you mean, you can't touch her?" Tai asked with concern lacing his voice. He ran to the side of the girls. "How can you not—" Tai went to grasp his sister, when a strong shock struck his hand. "Grah!" His exclamation woke Kari up to the sight of his palm. It was developing a large, red burn. "How can I not touch her?"

Kari slowly raised her head to look at her friends. Her eyes were sad.

"No one is completely pure," she said, her voice still contralto. "It is the danger of the light. It can sense the darkness inside each of you, and begin to think you are as much of my enemy as the Dark Ocean itself is."

* * *

><p>"<em>They were able to defeat the Control Spire, just as I thought."<em>

"_You did not think they would defeat it like that, though, you idiot."_

"_Neither did you. I wonder how our 'boss' is reacting."_

"_It's my turn to spy this week. I will fill you in. What shall we do now that one of the Altars of Faith has returned?_

"_I think it is time I went into the scene. I would love to take revenge for my fellow kind on that Child, who destroyed me with that one shot all those years ago."_

"_Why should we trust you? You are not one of us; you were sucked here when you were killed in that other world."_

"_You should not trust me. But you can use me for this. While the two may have no qualms about fighting me, those new Chosen Children will refuse to destroy me, as I am real data. It will speed the rift between them. One child will fear the consequences, another will question his intent, and one may even loathe herself for what they have to do. The Child of Faith will be weak in spirit after today and begin to hate the consequence of the task. I can completely annihilate the souls with one strike."_

"_Very well. What happens to you, or any of your Nightmare Soldiers, does not matter. Go, and fight to your heart's content. We have pushed open a rift for you at the closest of tainted altars. Be on your way."_

* * *

><p><strong>So- What do you think? Too much at once?<br>The Sushi Monster- You are great! I went over some of the dialogue and tried to ease it a bit. I think I accidentally let Izzy's character leak into the general narration. That or all the biochem formulas I've been practicing have pushed their way into the English skills.**

**Again, if there's any spelling oopsies, or a spot where it's confusing, let me know and I'll fix it! It honors me when you are honest and you all!  
><strong>


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